The Battle of Seven
by Sky 'N Scribbles
Summary: -Sequel to the Power of Seven- Ratstar and his group of rogues have been driven away, but they still lurk in the shadows, waiting for the right time to pounce. Tensions rise throughout the Clans, and the Seventh must be found. Meanwhile, a battle, meant for seven cats on each side, looms on the horizon. But one of the cats may not know where their loyalties lie...
1. Allegiances and Prologue

**Woot! Book two already! For those of you who didn't get the message in the summary, this is a SEQUEL to my story, "The Power of Seven". I strongly suggest you read that first or else you won't get anything. Only ThunderClan yet again, mah peeps!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Warriors...well, you can see what would happen (TOTAL CHAOS)**

* * *

**ThunderClan**

**Leader: Bramblestar- **dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

**Deputy: Lionblaze- **golden tabby tom with amber eyes

**Medicine Cat: Jayfeather- **mottled gray tabby tom with blind blue eyes

_**Apprentice- Seedflower**_

**Warriors: **

**Brackenfur- **golden brown tabby tom

**Sorreltail- **tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with amber eyes

**Cloudtail- **long haired white tom with blue eyes

**Brightheart- **white she-cat with ginger patches

_**Apprentice- Petalpaw **_

**Thornclaw- **golden brown tabby tom

**Spiderleg- **long-limbed black tom with brown underbelly and amber eyes

_**Apprentice- Featherpaw**_

**Squirrelflight- **dark brown ginger she-cat with one white paw

**Birchfall- **light brown tabby tom

_**Apprentice- Silverpaw**_

**Whitewing- **white she-cat with green eyes

**Berrynose- **cream-colored tom

**Hazeltail- **small gray-and-white she-cat

**Poppyfrost- **tortoiseshell she-cat

**Foxleap- **reddish-brown tabby tom

_**Apprentice- Windpaw**_

**Icecloud- **white she-cat

**Toadstep- **black and white tom

_**Apprentice- Lightningpaw **_

**Rosepetal- **dark cream she-cat

**Bumblestripe- **very pale gray tom with black stripes

_**Apprentice- Whitepaw**_

**Dovewing- **pale gray she-cat with green eyes

**Ivypool- **silver-and-white tabby she-cat with dark blue eyes

_**Apprentice- Rockpaw**_

**Cherryfoot- **fluffy ginger she-cat with amber eyes

**Molewhisker- **large cream-and-brown tom with amber eyes

**Lilystone- **dark tabby she-cat with white patches

**Snowclaw- **white tom with amber eyes

**Dewshade- **gray tom with amber eyes

**Amberstorm- **golden-brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

**Halfsnow- **half-white, half-gray she-cat with green eyes

**Apprentices: **

**Seedflower- **pale ginger she-cat

**Windpaw- **gray and white she-cat

**Petalpaw- **gray and white dotted she-cat

**Lightningpaw- **dark brown tabby tom with white streak on back

**Featherpaw- **light gray she-cat with leaf-green eyes

**Whitepaw- **dark ginger she-cat with four white paws and amber eyes

**Silverpaw- **silver tabby with blue eyes

**Rockpaw- **dark gray tom with amber eyes

**Queens: **

**Cinderheart- **dark gray she-cat, mother of Sootkit (dark gray tom with lighter gray stripes, amber eyes); Morningkit (white she-kit with gray patches, amber eyes) and Leafkit (light brown tabby she-cat with white paws and underbelly, green eyes)

**Briarlight- **dark brown she-cat (expecting Toadstep's kits)

**Blossomfall- **tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat, mother of Sweetkit (fluffy gray she-cat with green eyes); Ebonykit (long furred black she-cat with green eyes); Mallowkit (white she-cat with blue eyes, mute); Deerkit (brown tabby tom, green eyes) and Flightkit (light brown tabby tom)

**Daisy- **cream-furred she-cat from horseplace, mother of Nightkit (black tom with brown muzzle, green eyes) and Redkit (ginger tom with blue eyes)

**Elders:**

**Purdy- **plump tabby with a gray muzzle

**Sandstorm- **pale ginger she-cat, green eyes

**Princess-** light brown tabby she-cat with white paws and underbelly

**Frostbite- **white tom with yellow eyes

* * *

_Four cats stood in _an underground grove. Two toms, two she-cats. Their pelts ranged from black, to ginger, to silvery-gray, to brown. The silvery-gray tom paced anxiously across the perimeter of the grove for the thousandth time, irritating the black she-cat.

"Great StarClan!" she snapped. "River, would you quit that pacing! It's driving me crazy!"

"Now, now, Shadow," the ginger tom soothed. "We're all very tense right now."

"Quiet," a brown tabby she-cat muttered, her eyes closed. "Don't you know that the wind carries words, Thunder?"

"Pure nonsense, Wind!" Shadow scowled.

"I've been thinking," River stated after he'd finished his one-thousand-and-first lap. "Did we really do the right choice, in giving them the Orb? They haven't even found the Seventh cat yet."

"The Seventh was prophesied to be the most powerful," Thunder murmured darkly. "Without the Seventh, there is no hope."

"Very optimistic," Wind mewed dryly.

"What?"

River sighed, stopping his pacing. "The Dark Forest grows stronger by the moment, and yet our forces are but six of the most powerful cats in the Clans. But the Seventh is missing." unexpectedly, he lifted his head and howled to the stars. "Cognitor Omnia Quae, why did you have to make this so difficult to us?"

"Relax, relax," Wind coaxed. "I'm sure the Stars will win yet again." she assured him.

"But never have they used _our very spirits _as sources to fuel themselves! The stronger we become, the stronger _they _become, too! Unless we can find that sliver of the Orb that controls spirits, we have no hope!"

There was a quiet moment as River's words sunk in, then a purr rumbled in Shadow's throat.

"Who says we can't?" she asked. "I'll go to Jayfeather and task~"

"_No," _Thunder, River and Wind mewed at the same time as if they'd rehearsed it. "We don't want one of the key players in the prophecy with shredded ears," Thunder added.

"I wasn't going to give him shredded ears." Shadow mumbled. When the other three leaders snorted with disbelief, Shadow continued. "I was just going to give him a shredded tail. Honestly. Shredded ears are _so _one thousand moons ago."

Cue the eye-rolls.

Thunder nodded. "Then I'll go. He's in _my _Clan, anyway."

"Wait!" Wind stopped him before he could walk in the blind medicine cat's dreams.

Thunder hissed with impatience. "What is it, Wind?"

Wind curled her lip. "Why risk putting him in danger," she mewed, "When we can have a spy?" Her tail swished over a puddle~the same one that Half Moon had used to explain the concept of 'spirits and shells' to Jayfeather~and immediately the dying, ugly Dark Forest appeared. Cats were there. Many of them. The sliver of Orb had brought them back, generations after generations. The view went left and right, until they zoomed in on a certain golden-brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes.

"Her?" Thunder mewed, confusion evident in his voice. "But she's a descendant of Tigerstar! We can't possibly trust her!"

Wind gave him a look. "And what of Bramblestar?"

Thunder blinked, silent until another thought popped up in his mind. "That seems like an awful lot of responsibility to put on a single young she-cat," he mewed.

"Which is why I'm choosing her," Wind answered. "She has the fierceness and ruthlessness of the Dark Forest, but a certain cat can bring out her good side. And when that happens, the weight of the entire Clans will rest on her shoulders."

* * *

**Okay, so I know I'm a bit spoiled after POS, but reviews, pretty please? ^^ Oh, and there's a poll on my profile that I'd like y'all to vote on. **

**-Sky**


	2. Prophecy

**And I'm back with our second chapter! Yayyy! **

**Disclaimer: Uhh..NIGHTKIT!**

**Nightkit: Sky does not own Warriors! That goes to Erin Hunter, and, plus, Sky writes wayy too sucky to own Warriors.**

**Sky: *grabs Nightkit and throws him as far away as possible***

* * *

_Why is our deputy an idiot? _Amberstorm wondered as she trudged through the wet, squishy grass and muddy ground. She knew that her pelt probably wasn't golden-brown anymore. Just plain brown. The mud clumped in her fur, the rain washed it off, and more mud clumped her fur. Perfect. Just perfect.

"Didja catch anything?" she called to her partner, Ivypool. Ivypool was called to lead the hunting patrol, and her apprentice, Rockpaw, tagged along. Amberstorm was also thrown in for the ride because she was the only one lying in camp and lazing her butt off.

"I got a mouse~oomph!" Rockpaw let out a wail of pain as the mouse in his paws let out an angry chatter, wriggled out, nipped his nose, and scurried away.

"Seriously?" Ivypool mewed, purring. "What kind of apprentice gets beaten by a mouse?"

"The awesome kind?" Rockpaw offered, his eyes glimmering playfully.

"Try again," Ivypool replied dryly.

Rockpaw was actually around Ivypool's age, but he still had his apprentice name due to the fact that he wasn't Clanborn. His father was Ravenpaw, and his mother was Fern, a loner. He had decided to join the journeying cats' group while they were sheltering there.

"So, did any of you get anything?" Amberstorm repeated, a bit of impatience flowing in her. Amberstorm was a short-tempered cat, and had the strength to match it. Part of the reason, actually, was because she trained in the Dark Forest, which, in turn, made her stronger.

"Of course not, Amberstorm," Ivypool replied politely, to which Amberstorm narrowed her eyes. Ivypool had never really liked her, for putting thorns in her bedding _and _siding with Rosepetal when it came to Foxleap. So Amberstorm wasn't surprised when Ivypool continued. "Why, with all the trampling noises you're making with your fat body, how could we catch a thing?"

Amberstorm glared at her, appalled. _How dare she? _Amberstorm thought furiously. _Doesn't she remember _I _was one of the cats who gave up their fresh-kill for the queens and elders when prey was short? _

Amberstorm opened her jaws to yell at her, but Ivypool was already padding away. "I'll tell Lionblaze," she called. "That the prey was all hiding in their holes. And I won't mention the mouse, okay, Rockpaw?"

A loud sigh of relief for Rockpaw.

Returning to the camp, Amberstorm padded inside the warriors' den and shook herself as dry as she could, then curled up in her warm nest of moss and feathers. Outside, she spotted Lightningpaw and Windpaw, talking and laughing. They sat especially close, and their eyes gleamed. Amberstorm felt warmth glow in her heart, and a purr rumbled in her throat. _I used to be like that, with Snowclaw. _

Speaking of the white tom, he was outside, talking to Whitepaw. _Duh, _Amberstorm sighed. She missed the warmth of his fur, and his company. She missed the heart that had once been all hers.

Beside them, Rockpaw laughed at Silverpaw's joke. Her heart ached even more. _Them, too. _

"Amberstorm?"

Amberstorm blinked at looked up at the cat that had snuck up on her. White fur, amber eyes. Snowclaw.

"Yes?" she asked, sounding icier than she had intended to. She imagined that he wanted to lead another hunting patrol with him, her and _Whitepaw_.

Snowclaw blinked, hurt clear in his eyes. "You know what?" he mewed bitterly and softly. "I give up." he turned around and amber eyes locked. "I used to love you, Amberstorm. You were perfect to me. But then you ran away with Marshlake, only to come sobbing back to me after he died. I became friends with Whitepaw when you were with Marshlake, and now you're trying to work your way into my heart again. I tried to give you a second chance, a benefit of the doubt, but clearly it doesn't work that way. I'm sorry, Amberstorm. I guess we were never meant to work out." he turned around, prepared to exit, when Amberstorm called, "Wait!"

Snowclaw turned around, hesitating.

"Come sit," she mewed, patting her nest with her tail.

Reluctantly, Snowclaw padded over and lay down next to her. Lying down next to Snowclaw~even if he was all stiff and rigid~seemed a luxury now. Their pelts brushed, golden-brown stark on white.

"You misunderstood what happened with Marshlake," she mewed softly but calmly. "I found Blackstar's body on ShadowClan territory, ventured over, and Burnetheart, Heavypelt and..._M-M-Marshlake_," her voice shook a bit as she mewed Marshlake's name. "found me. They told me about what Ratstar was plotting, so I had to go and meet with them to help. And we were meeting again when Marshlake...well, you know what Marshlake did."

"But then why were you two alone?" Snowclaw asked.

"Because Burnetheart and Heavypelt were on a mission along with Ratstar to recruit rogues."

There was a moment of silence, then Snowclaw mewed, "Oh. Well...this is awkward."

_Yes it is, _Amberstorm agreed quietly.

"Well then.." Snowclaw slowly stood up. "I guess I'm leaving."

Amberstorm's heart sank. _All that for nothing? _Her eyes squeezed shut as she prepared to fire her last resort.

"Oh, and Snowclaw?" Amberstorm asked. There was a pause, and then Snowclaw mewed, "Yeah?"

Amberstorm took a deep breath. "I know this is long overdue but...I just wanted to tell you that I love you."

* * *

Poppyfrost had blackcough.

It had started when her greencough was slowly but surely being treated with catmint, until Leafkit moved in with her unique sickness. After that, Poppyfrost's greencough had began to disappear, only to veer off into blackcough. Already she was retching up greenish-black fluids, while stumbling back to her nest in a daze.

Jayfeather leaned against the herb store and sighed. Herb dust fell into his pelt, but he didn't care. His main worries were for Leafkit and Poppyfrost. And who else was going to get blackcough? With no treatment, Jayfeather was sure many cats were going to die. He closed his eyes, going over the few herbs that were left. Even though it was newleaf, it had harshly rained nonstop, which destroyed many precious herbs. _Let's see...we still have daisy, sorrel, burnet, a bit of catmint~not like it's going to be any use~and some thyme. _Jayfeather grimaced. _This isn't good. _

"Jayfeather?" Poppyfrost croaked from the corner. "My belly hurts."

Jayfeather bit his lip. They were out of watermint and juniper berries... "Are you hungry?"

"It feels like a rat is eating me from the inside!" Poppyfrost proclaimed.

"Yup, you're hungry," Jayfeather sighed, poking his head out of the cave, and wind and rain buffeted his head almost immediately. He sniffed, before pulling it back in. "Well, sorry, Poppyfrost, but there isn't anything on the fresh-kill pile. All the prey is probably hiding from the rain." With resignation, he pawed together some sorrel~a traveling herb~and gave it to Poppyfrost. "Here," he mewed. "That should help a bit."

As Poppyfrost chewed the sorrel, Amberstorm stomped in.

"What is it now?" Jayfeather sighed. He had never really taken a liking to the violent and moody she-cat.

"Ivypool has some clawed ears..." her voice trailed off.

"Then why isn't Ivypool in here?" Jayfeather demanded hotly. "I'm busy with two sick cats."

He felt sheepishness rolling off of Amberstorm in waves. "No~actually, I'm just warning you ahead of time."

"_Amberstorm! Don't you dare!" _

"She insulted me one too many times!" Amberstorm retorted. "It's about time that I got even with her."

"Don't," Jayfeather meowed, shaking his head. "At least not when herb supplies are low."

"That's exactly why I chose this time."

"_Amber~" _

"Bye! Gotta go claw some ears!" Amberstorm dashed away.

"The little~" Jayfeather hissed under his breath.

Suddenly, his vision returned, and he witnessed his shell falling to the ground, while Poppyfrost cried in alarm. Jayfeather looked wildly around. Why was this suddenly happening?

Then he saw a dark gray she-cat with a broad, flat muzzle. Yellowfang.

"What is it now?" Jayfeather snapped. "I was about to go chase Amberstorm and stop her from clawing Ivypool's ears!"

Yellowfang's eyes glimmered in amusement. "Unfortunately," she meowed. "That will have to wait. Another prophecy from the Orb needs to be given."

_The Orb? _The last time Jayfeather saw...er..thought of it, it was shoved behind the warriors' den with a few leaves and twigs covering the immense power radiating from the crystal clear sphere.

"Okay." he sighed reluctantly.

"_The Battle of Seven shall spill blood, seven and seven, and Transformation shall be missing." _

Jayfeather blinked. "That has to be the most cryptic prophecy I've ever received," he confessed. "Do you have any idea what it means?"

Yellowfang slowly nodded. "A bit. Cognitor Omnia Quae told us some useful information." under her breath, she added, "Not _enough_, though, as always. Anyway, the Battle of Seven has been prophesied to happen for moons~even before my father's father was born. All I know is that seven cats will fight seven cats. You need to find the Seventh, Jayfeather. Or else you won't be able to fight the Battle of Seven."

And with that, Jayfeather was blind again.

"Jayfeather?"

Jayfeather blinked at the familiar sound of his former apprentice. "Huh?" he mumbled, not sure of his bearings.

"Jayfeather, you collapsed on us. What happened?"

"Prophecy...new...prophecy..need to tell the rest," Jayfeather sighed, before plunging into sleep.

* * *

Halfsnow took a step forward, her nose sniffing the air. Nothing. Only wet trees and mud clogging up her white-and-gray fur. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. She remembered of a landslide during her first life...

_Enough of that. Hunt. _

Halfsnow leaned forward, stretching, and sighed. It was hopeless. Not a single mouse was out foraging in the forest. She would simply have to wait.

"Half..." a singsong voice called out. Halfsnow perked her ears and looked around. Nothing.

"_Half_.." there it was again.

Pawsteps sounded. Halfsnow blinked in fear. _What's happening? Who's that cat...?_

"Why are you making me wait?"

Weirdly, the voice sent a shiver up Halfsnow's spine. Odd. She could've sworn that voice sounded familiar...

Suddenly, a caterwaul was yelled and Halfsnow was knocked over with a shriek. Her vision was dark, and she heard yelling. She couldn't distinguish it, though. She writhed blindly under the heavy weight, and when she could see again, they were gone.

"What...?" she breathed softly.

Slowly, she stood up and cleaned the mud off of her pelt. She gagged at the taste of mud~her attacker had unintentionally shoved her muzzle in the ground.

"Who's there?" she called. Nothing. She twitched her tail in annoyance. In her panic, she hadn't been able to take a whiff of her attacker's scent.

This time, a different voice sounded.

"Hello, dear Halfsnow. Enjoying this?"

That voice was familiar. Too familiar. With a shudder, Halfsnow turned around to see Ratstar with his rogues, their claws unsheathed, bloodlust gleaming in their eyes.

* * *

**Vote on the poll on my profile page! I'm sorry, I don't feel like doing the quote for this book. I'll find something else! I promise! AND REVIEW! I have a lot of follows and faves on this who don't review! AEPJWEPOJFALFJA**

**-Sky**


	3. Ratstar Returns

**Writer's block, guys. The grip is powerful. **

**Anyway, here's (a very delayed) chapter 2! (well, chapter three, actually, depends if you view the prologue as a chapter or not...) Oh, yeah, and guys, sorry if I'm not able to put all your kits that you've submitted in the story, because I'm literally DROWNING in kits here. There's just wayyy to much for me to squeeze in, sorry.**

**And happy belated b-day to starstar412! **

**Disclaimer: Let's see...Ratstar, get yo' $$ here!**

**Ratstar: *glares at Sky* Sky does not own Warriors~she's ugly and stupid and~**

**Sky: *kicks Ratstar so hard he goes flying into 9999999999 B.C***

* * *

_Halfsnow had felt frozen _before.

The time of the brutal leafbare, during her first life, where snow piled right up to their chins, and prey was scarce. The time she had fallen in a freezing river, also in leafbare, when she was taking a walk. The time her shell had fallen in the lake and she had almost drowned. Those were all horrible times when she had felt frozen and cold.

But it couldn't compete with this.

Ratstar and Starlingwing's beady eyes bore into her, striking her heart colder than ever before. Unconsciously, she began to hyperventilate. Her vision blurred, and her legs weakened. She blinked, seeing her eyelids droop heavily. For a moment, they stayed there, blocking her view of the world. Then they opened again and she could see the distorted faces of the two toms. Unfortunately, she had not imagined it.

Then the rat spoke.

"They shall remember me." Ratstar announced, his voice high-pitched and eerie. Faster than Halfsnow could react, he lunged, pinning her down with lightning-fast movements. Halfsnow forced her jaws shut. The last thing she wanted was to bring Jayfeather over. A blind medicine cat couldn't take on both of these ruffians.

"They shall remember me," Ratstar repeated. "You will tell them."

_No, _Halfsnow thought weakly but defiantly. _Just try. _

Halfsnow watched as Ratstar delicately unsheathed a single, long, curved claw. He brought it to her skin. The claw dug sharply, piercing the soft surface and drawing blood. Halfsnow had to bite her lip to stop from shrieking in pain.

Ratstar pulled his claw in a sort of pattern across Halfsnow's skin. Agony burned through Halfsnow, and she tried not to scream. She realized that Ratstar had carved a sort of half moon in Halfsnow's flesh, and now he was retracing it, over and over, making the wound deeper and deeper...

Finally, Halfsnow screamed, letting out the pain. It echoed for fox-lengths, seemingly ceaseless. She screwed her eyes shut. _Now I've done it! _

"You will tell them. You will tell them that I've returned, and they will pay dearly for their mistakes."

Halfsnow barely registered his words. She was concentrating on lifting her leg and clawing Ratstar, which, unfortunately, was quite a feat with her lame leg.

She wouldn't have been fast enough, though, anyway, because the moment she managed to lift her paw up, Ratstar and Starlingwing had left, leaving her lying on the soft forest floor.

Moments later, Amberstorm, Jayfeather and Bramblestar came running. _Too late, _Halfsnow sighed.

"Great StarClan~" Bramblestar's eyes were round with surprise as he surveyed Halfsnow's scar. The half moon had stopped bleeding, and showed raw flesh that was swollen and tender. "Ooolpphhgg," which was the sound that Bramblestar made as he vomited, much to Halfsnow's amusement.

Jayfeather was gingerly poking her scarred flesh with his nose. Every time the soft pink nose of the blind medicine cat touched the tender skin, Halfsnow yelped in pain, squeezing her eyes shut while Amberstorm seemingly forgot that Jayfeather was blind as she gave him a dirty look every time Halfsnow yelped and mouthed, 'Do that one more time and I swear, I'm going to kill you.'

"It~it's okay," Halfsnow managed to choke out while wincing. "It's not that bad. I can continue my warrior duties, right?"

"In your wildest dreams," Jayfeather snorted. "You're staying in my den until all that flesh grows back~"

"_Ooolpphhgg...bleurgh..." _

"~and when I'm sure it's not infected," Jayfeather finished, ignoring Bramblestar's second round of puke.

Halfsnow groaned. "And tonight's the Gathering, too." she rolled her eyes. "Ah, well. It'll be good to not show my scarred flesh to the new apprentices."

She felt teeth pinch her scruff as Bramblestar gently lifted her into the air. "Okay, let's go."

"Who did this to you?" Jayfeather hissed to her while padding alongside her as they returned to camp. Jayfeather's teeth were gritted and his blue eyes blazed with fury. For a moment, Halfsnow almost felt sorry for Ratstar and Starlingwing. _Almost_, that is.

"The wing of a starling and a star shaped like a rat," Halfsnow mumbled, before drifting into unconsciousness.

* * *

The cool air flew around Lionblaze as his paws tapped heavily on the tree-trunk. The slimy, cold water lapped precariously close to his paws, but he ignored it~he was far too used to it, anyway.

A tail poked his back. Lionblaze slowly turned around to see Amberstorm glaring at him.

"Would you hurry up?" she snapped, bristling. "You're moving slower than a dead snail!"

A growl rumbled in Lionblaze's throat. He was never very fond of this rude she-cat, but sped his pace up nevertheless. At least now he didn't have to hear Amberstorm complaining.

His paws hit sandy ground and he sighed as the coolness soothed his pads. He raised his nose and tasted the air, which was cold and crisp~the entire opposite of what _newleaf _was supposed to be. He sighed. When would leafbare actually be over?

"Lionblaze..?"

Lionblaze felt himself stiffen, before slowly turning around and locking eyes with a blue-eyed light brown tabby she-cat. _Heathertail_.

"Yes?" he meowed curtly and coldly.

Heathertail hesitated, then mewed slowly, as if choosing her words, "Cinderheart..was lucky to have you." then she turned around and padded away.

Lionblaze stood there feeling completely and utterly baffled. _What just happened? _he wondered.

"Hi, Lionblaze." Hollowflight's friendly tone almost surprised Lionblaze. Lionblaze looked at the young warrior, almost shocked at what he saw in the depths of Hollowflight's eyes. They were...well, hollow. And defeated, for that fact. For the first time, Lionblaze noticed how unkept his fur was, and how fresh wounds plastered themselves against his body, while older, healing scars peeked out from underneath them.

"Umm...did something happen to you?" Lionblaze questioned.

For a moment, Lionblaze saw Hollowflight blanch, but he rapidly covered it. "Oh! We...drove a fox away. It ws really...erm, dishonorable, because Minnowtail died, so Mistystar isn't going to mention it."

"I never knew that Mistystar was that kind of leader," Lionblaze meowed, shocked yet again.

"Well...you know..after that huge battle, she doesn't want to show that RiverClan is weak, even after retreating, do you know what I mean?" Hollowflight looked incredibly uncomfortable right now. He was squirming so hard that Lionblaze wondered if there were ants in his pelt. Lionblaze decided to let the young warrior go.

"Okay." Lionblaze saw relief evident in Hollowflight's eyes and the young RiverClan warrior bounded away, a bit too eager to get away from Lionblaze.

"Ow! Mousebrain! That was my wound!" Ivypool snapped from behind him. Lionblaze turned around and narrowed his eyes when he saw Ivypool snapping at an equally angry and indignant Amberstorm.

"You were the one who bumped into me!" Amberstorm retorted hotly.

Lionblaze squinted at Ivypool, something bugging him at the back of his mind. Yes, that was right. Ivypool looked familiar, a lot like a cat he had just saw. _But how, and who...? _

Suddenly, it became clear to him. Ivypool's wounds, her hollow and defeated look in her eyes, her healing scars...Ivypool and Hollowflight looked identical, only Ivypool was better at hiding it.

"_You _were!" Ivypool scowled right back at her.

"Break it up," Lionblaze ordered, padding between them. The two she-cats obeyed instantly, not wanting to displease their deputy, but Lionblaze could still see hostile looks shot between the fiery warriors. When that look continued, Lionblaze added, "Do you want to think that ThunderClan's own warriors can't cooperate?"

Amberstorm was the first one to admit defeat. "_Fine_." she sighed, breaking the glare. "Hey! Heavypelt!" without further ado, the golden-brown tabby she-cat ran over to a clump of ShadowClan warriors.

"Listen," Lionblaze mewed quietly to Ivypool. "I don't like her either, but you need to _get along better_. Or else there _will _be trouble."

"Let the Gathering begin!" Ashstar called from the Great Oak. Without pause, she continued. "I shall go first." her face contorted into a scowl. "ShadowClan has been trespassing in our territory!"

"What?!" Toadstar's outraged cry rang throughout the clearing. "ShadowClan would never do that! Not after the battle!"

"Furthermore," Ashstar continued coldly. "We have found half-eaten prey smelling strongly of ShadowClan. Just earlier today, our apprentice, Buzzardpaw, was _murdered in cold blood_. We found his body, covered in wounds, with a fatal bite to the neck. The scent of ShadowClan clung to his pelt. It has gone far enough!" Ashstar yowled, sending cheers of agreement between the WindClan cats. "WindClan declares war on ShadowClan!"

A murmur of surprise ran though the cats, and Lionblaze could feel shock (yet again) biting into him. Would WindClan honestly attack ShadowClan, even after all ShadowClan had been through that past moon? He looked at Ashstar, who seemed to be truly grieving. Sunstrike, also with that hollow look in her eyes, helpfully supplied details about Ashstar's enragement. "Her son, Crowfeather's littermate, was Buzzardpaw's mentor," she meowed.

"Oh,"

"It is ShadowClan's turn," Toadstar growled through gritted teeth. "We are happy to announce the safe arrival of Burnetheart's new kits; Blossomkit and Umbrakit. Snowbird's kits have also reached their sixth moon; Skypaw, Hailpaw and Timberpaw are proud new apprentices of ShadowClan."

"Skypaw! Timberpaw! Hailpaw!" the only Clan that didn't chant was WindClan. Lionblaze felt his eyes trail over to the new apprentices, and what he saw was startling.

Skypaw was a light blue-gray she-cat with even lighter tabby stripes. She had a white muzzle, underbelly, chest and tail-tip, but what really startled Lionblaze was the fact that one of her eyes were blue~the other one was a chilling amber.

Hailpaw was also a blue-gray color, but he lacked the tabby stripes that adorned his sister's fur, and he had a white mark on his forehead. His amber eyes glowed with arrogance.

Timberpaw was a small brown tabby tom with black paws and ear-tips. His green eyes stared shyly at his paws~his personality seemed very contrast to his boastful and arrogant brother. Lionblaze wondered why, then he noticed Snowbird glaring at Timberpaw as if he was Ratstar himself. Come to think of it, Timberpaw's brown pelt matched Ratstar's, as well as the green eyes. _That's completely biased, Snowbird hates her own kit for looking like Ratstar! _

Lionblaze ignored Mistystar's report on how a fox had indeed been driven out, but he perked his ears when Mistystar announced, "Our warrior, Minnowtail, has mysteriously died of wounds. It is suspected that the fox had gotten to her before we drove it out." she dipped her head. "Minnowtail rests with StarClan now."

Then Bramblestar announced how Windpaw and Petalpaw had been made apprentices, blah blah blah, and then Lionblaze heard himself be announced as deputy. Suddenly, he felt the searing hot gazes upon his pelt, and ducked his head self-consciously.

"So...congratulations on becoming deputy," a nasty voice mewed to him, and Lionblaze lifted his head to see Hailpaw looking at him.

"Uh...thanks?" Lionblaze tried.

Hailpaw rolled his eyes. "Whatever. _I'm _going to be leader with all those battle tricks that Sparrowfeather, Blazingdawn and Butterflyfang have taught me~" his eyes suddenly widened with surprise and he slapped his tail over his mouth. "Skypaw's calling me. See you, stupid furball." he bounded away, faster than Lionblaze could react.

Lionblaze narrowed his eyes. _Ivypool, Sunstrike and Hollowflight are keeping a secret. And what was that that Hailpaw had just said? Did he say _Sparrowfeather _was training him? But Sparrowfeather is one of the Dark Forest cats! _his eyes surveyed ThunderClan, and he noticed Thornclaw and Birchfall looking the same way. _Something's not right here...and I think, somehow, the Dark Forest is linked to this. But how?_

* * *

Moss. Very soft and warm. Especially with feathers. Amberstorm tiredly snuggled up in her soft, warm nest beside Snowclaw. The white tom wasn't as hostile to her, but it seemed that he had forgiven her. As she plopped herself in her bedding, she faintly heard Snowclaw asking, "What happened at the Gathering?" but Amberstorm was almost completely asleep, so she merely mumbled a few ununderstandable words. "Werrr Widcan an Shadcan Burhe kats Skipaew Hallpwa an Timderpwae apprencintes Shadcan." and then she was asleep.

Amberstorm padded through a dark, marshy forest with pines and looked around in confusion. _This isn't the Dark Forest! _Though it was dark, the forest was full of life, with growing bramble bushes and prey scampering all around. Suddenly, the scent of ShadowClan hit the roof of Amberstorm's mouth. _Oh, StarClan_. She was literally in StarClan, at the place where deceased ShadowClan cats liked to reside._ Just perfect. I would rather face Brokenstar _and _Hawkfrost at the same time than do this._

Suddenly, a familiar scent filled Amberstorm's nostrils, making her stomach flutter. _Could it be...? _

The scent disappeared. Amberstorm's heart dropped with disappointment, and she sighed regretfully, turning tail.

"_Mrrroww!" _she yelped in surprise as she was tackled by a familiar tortoiseshell tom. Amberstorm's surprise quickly turned to excitement and she felt a purr rumble in her throat. "Marshlake!"

Marshlake looked just as familiar as that night they'd spent in the forest, alone, one moon ago. She purred again and nuzzled him.

The tortoiseshell tom looked just as happy to see Amberstorm. "Praise Cognitor Omnia Quae, I finally found you!" he purred and brushed his pelt against hers. "I've missed you," he murmured softly. "I'm sorry I had to leave." he pulled back, much to Amberstorm's disappointment. "I need to tell you something," he mewed, suddenly serious. He flicked his tail to beckon her. "Come on. Follow me."

Marshlake led Amberstorm out of ShadowClan territory (sort of) and lead her to a puddle, but when Amberstorm looked in it, she saw not her own reflection, but the past of a dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes. She watched as Tigerstar killed cat after cat, pursuing his ambitions, until he met a grotesque ending by having his entire body ripped into two and losing all nine lives at once. Amberstorm didn't bother to show remorse.

"And you showed me this why..?" Amberstorm questioned when it was finally over.

Marshlake sighed, letting his whiskers fly. "That was Tigerstar's past. And you're _honestly_ letting him train you like that?"

Amberstorm froze. "How do you know that? I didn't tell you!"

Marshlake snorted. "Don't worry, Amberstorm, the best have been tricked by Tigerstar. And plus~the Dark Forest is right beside StarClan. Do you seriously think that we'll just be like 'doo de doo, we're just placing the fate of us and our descendants in seven cats, doo de doo, we don't care. Ooh! Look! A mouse!'" Amberstorm tried not to laugh at his imitation.

"Fine. What do you want me to do?" she asked him.

Marshlake looked at her with his ice-blue eyes, like a kit begging their mother to cuddle up to them. "Well, could you spy on them for us? _Please_?" he was really hard to refuse.

"Did some cat put you up to this?" Amberstorm gave him a suspicious look.

Marshlake shoved his muzzle in her face, blue eyes pleading. _"Please?" _he asked again. He was practically begging. "Please oh please oh please?" when Amberstorm still didn't answer, he traced his tail along her jawline until she shuddered, closing her eyes, then sighing, "Fine! I'll do it!"

Marshlake sat back on his haunches, suddenly happy. "You see, this is why I love you," he purred, and Amberstorm laughed, until his eyes got serious. "Be careful. Cognitor Omnia Quae knows what will happen to you if you get caught. It's a dangerous job, and the price is high if you mess up."

Though Amberstorm already knew, she still asked, "What's the price?"

Marshlake gave her a long look before answering, "Your life."

* * *

**Threw in some MarshxAmber fluff in there just for you guys! Yayz! I know how you all LURRRVE them together...anyway, I have a question for you guys (y'know, that you answer in your review). Let's say that I like a guy. This guy hangs out with me, talks to me, laughs with me and holds my hand. But when there's this other girl there he totally ditches me. Do you think he likes me? **

**-Sky**


	4. New Arrivals

**Helloooo! ;) Okay, so here's the thing~instead of a quote after every chapter, I will ask a question or a challenge, 'kay? You aren't obliged to participate, if you don't want to though. **

**Disclaimer: Redkit! (and don't say I'm sucky like your brother did)**

**Redkit: Sky does not own Warriors. MOMMA!**

**Sky: -.-;**

* * *

_Tigerheart crouched behind _an oak tree, shivering in the damp, misty air. His eyes tracked intently for something~anything, really, as long as it was moving and ThunderClan could eat it. Never had they thought that it would be newleaf that they would go hungry~but nothing, not even mice, liked to go out in the rain. Tigerheart, however, was already soaked through and through. Tigerheart wondered if ShadowClan had the same problems, before pushing every thought of them out of his mind.

"No prey?" called Lionblaze from a few fox-lengths away. Grimly, Tigerheart shook his head, and waved over Bumblestripe and Whitepaw, who were also on the patrol.

"At this rate, we'll have to go back to hunting deer," Bumblestripe huffed, discouraged. The tom's paws were drenched through and through, and mud streaked his pelt. Whitepaw, on the other paw, seemed equally as annoyed. Her four white paws were now brown, and mud clumped on her thick fur and bushy tail. "This sucks!" she complained. "Why couldn't we have gone to mark the _borders_?"

Lionblaze bit his lip from scowling. He had never been fond of this she-cat, whether it was bragging or complaining, and even worse was the fact that they were_ kin_.

"I'm sure it's not _that_ bad," Featherpaw mumbled mildly, arriving with no trace of prey in her jaws. Spiderleg, however, had managed to catch a scraggly thrush~the best, and _only_, catch of the day.

"Not that bad? _Not that bad?! _Featherpaw, you're lucky. Your fur is nice and sleek and _thin_. It'll take _forever _to get all this mud out of my fur!" Whitepaw whined dramatically.

"I wonder how Lightningpaw is doing," Featherpaw meowed again, obviously trying to change the subject.

"Oh!" Whitepaw's eyes grew wide. "_Oh! _Lightningpaw, that lucky tom. _He _gets to patrol the borders, while we tramp around futilely looking for prey and getting mud in our pelts!"

"Shush!" Spiderleg snapped around his thrush. "Just over a moon ago, you were complaining about 'smelling stinky stuff' than hunting, so shut your jaws!"

Whitepaw did as told, but did it sullenly, glaring at every member of the patrol as if it was _their _fault her pelt was muddy. Tigerheart couldn't help but glare at her, even though he knew it wasn't worth it to attack her. Not a lot of ThunderClan trusted him, and Squirrelflight and Bramblestar would have his pelt if he laid a single claw on their precious daughter.

"I mean, it's completely and utterly unfair...!" Whitepaw mumbled under her breath, stalking off, and crashing into a gray-and-white she-cat.

"Oomph!" Windpaw exclaimed as her paws scrabbled over the mud for a pawhold. Unfortunately, she didn't manage, which resulted in sliding on the slippery mud and hurling both herself and Whitepaw in a plethora of mud.

After a few wriggles, the two apprentices managed to free themselves. Tigerheart pushed back a _mrroww _of amusement as he saw Whitepaw, now completely brown-furred, with blazing amber eyes of fury.

"YOU MOUSEBRAIN!" she howled at Windpaw. The poor apprentice looked terrified of Whitepaw. Suddenly, Whitepaw turned oddly calm. "I wonder if Foxleap will let me claw his apprentice. It shouldn't take so long to recover. Only about SIXTY MOONS!"

Windpaw scrabbled at the mud, and managed to free herself. She pelted away, while a furious Whitepaw was lugged down by her thick fur. She growled and attempted to shake the mud free, to no avail. Sighing, she ran after Windpaw.

"Well then..." Tigerheart stared at them in amusement. "Poor Windpaw, and Whitepaw totally deserved it."

As if on cue, Foxleap appeared, padding through the bushes, looking left and right. "Has any cat seen Windpaw?" he asked.

As Tigerheart _mrroww_ed with laughter a second time, he saw a tail-tip poking out from the bushes.

* * *

"LET ME GET AT HER!" Whitepaw shrieked, struggling against Rockpaw, Lightningpaw and Silverpaw's combined attempts to hold her back. Cinderheart watched this at the entrance of the nursery with amusement. Meanwhile, Windpaw was busy pawing her way up the Highledge, as to avoid the older apprentice if she got free. That, however, didn't seem likely.

"Should I help..?" Petalpaw asked shyly, looking at her paws and shuffling them.

"No!" Whitepaw yowled, while Rockpaw, Lightningpaw and Silverpaw all exclaimed, "Yes!"

Hesitantly, Petalpaw placed her paws on Whitepaw and gently groomed out all the mud. Though her fur stuck out in many places, Whitepaw was clean, and her ginger fur gleamed. Instead of being thankful, as Cinderheart thought she would, Whitepaw turned on Petalpaw and hissed, "Just great! Now you've got me all _wet_! A fat load of help _you've _done me!"

"Oh! I~I'm sorry," Petalpaw mumbled, looking back at her paws.

"You should be," the older apprentice meowed haughtily.

Cinderheart's paws ached to go out and claw Whitepaw so hard she cried, but that, unfortunately, wasn't an option. Squirrelflight padded out from the dirtplace, her bushy tail waving along with the breeze, identical to her daughter's. She shot a quick look at the fresh-kill pile before sighing in regret and shaking her head. "There isn't much fresh-kill," she sighed. "And my belly's eating me from the inside out."

At that moment, Nightkit and Redkit~the oldest kits in the nursery next to Cinderheart's litter~padded out. The kits had recently turned two moons, to which they chose to be the right moment to gloat about how much closer they were to being apprentices.

"Two moons! Already!" Nightkit cheered, bouncing up and down.

"At this rate, we'll be apprentices in no time!" Redkit chimed, equally as excited. The two tom kits scurried around the camp, doing laps, as if burning their never-ending supply of energy.

"_We_'re much older!" Sootkit boasted. Cinderheart's head snapped over to view her kit. The dark gray tom with lighter gray stripes had woken up from his nap, and was now trotting over to Nightkit and Redkit. Though older, Sootkit was the same size as Nightkit and Redkit, probably because of the fact that he was kitted prematurely, and would have to wait until he was seven moons before becoming an apprentice.

"Yeah!" Morningkit added, padding after her brother.

Cinderheart couldn't help but let a purr rumble in her throat. _Oh, my kits.._

"But Blossomfallll! I wanna _explore_!" yelled a certain brown tabby tom kit. Deerkit wriggled impatiently as his tortoiseshell mother calmly groomed scraps out of Mallowkit. The pure white she-cat was mute, and her jaws opened in mute protest every time Blossomfall's rough tongue lapped at her.

"You can't," was Blossomfall's obvious answer. "Not until I finish grooming all your siblings and supervise you."

"But, but, but~" Deerkit was cut off as Ebonykit sighed.

"Deerkit, we _all _wanna explore," Ebonykit scowled. Her cheerful mood was quickly arisen again and she meowed, "Might as well play!" faster than lightning, she knocked her brother down, and Flightkit and Sweetkit quickly joined in the fray.

Suddenly, Foxleap, Tigerheart, Spiderleg, Featherpaw and Lionblaze burst into the camp, "Bramblestar!" Lionblaze called.

Said leader came out of his den in the Highledge. "Y-uh-huh?" the sleepy tom grumbled. Cinderheart sympathized. The tom had been on guard duty all night, and it was only a little before sunhigh.

"We need to show you a few rogues," Tigerheart explained, "That asked us to join our Clan."

"And?" Bramblestar asked. "Why acting so peculiar?"

Slowly, the toms and Featherpaw parted, revealing a family of brown tabbies, but the most startling was the one in the middle, with amber eyes, a white underbelly and paws.

It was Leafpool.

* * *

Amberstorm stared disbelievingly at Leafpool. Even Bramblestar, who was still half-asleep, looked shocked. Silence rang louder through the clearing than ever before, and Amberstorm felt the need to break the silence. Unfortunately, her tongue refused to obey. Finally, Squirrelflight spoke.

"Leafpool...is that really you?"

Leafpool purred. "Hello, Squirrelflight." Leafpool walked with a limp, and Amberstorm could see that her hind leg was slightly bent. _Probably where the 'blood' in the stories came from._

After cheers, introductions were made, and Bramblestar gave them all names. The oldest tom, whose name was Forest, was now named Forestwind. The queen, formerly named Flower, was now Flowerheart. The first litter of Forestwind and Flowerheart was Oak and Aspen, who were given the names Oakpaw and Aspenpaw, much to all their amusement. Bramblestar had stated that they needed to learn the warrior code, while their parents seemed perfectly capable of remembering it. Their mentors were Cherryfoot and Molewhisker.

Then Bramblestar did the apprentice ceremonies for Fallen, Water and Storm.

"Storm, from now on, until you receive your warrior name, your name will be Stormpaw. Your mentor will be Brackenfur."

The brown tabby tom respectfully dipped his head and ran over to where his golden-brown mentor was waiting.

"Water, from now on, until you receive your warrior nam, your name will be Waterpaw. Your mentor will be Hazeltail."

The rambunctious tom bounced up and down before pawing his way over to the small gray-and-white she-cat.

And, finally, Bramblestar turned to Fallen. As Amberstorm observed the strong, silent tom, she decided that she liked him, until her likes for him disappeared as quickly as the obnoxious tom opened his mouth.

"Well?" Fallen snorted at Bramblestar. "Aren't you going to hurry your _mundui _up?" he rolled his eyes and murmured, "Idiot tom."

Rather than looking angry, Bramblestar looked amused, and mewed, "Fallen, from now on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Fallenpaw." Bramblestar took a deep breath, as if weighing his choices on who was patient enough to put up with this apprentice. Certainly not Amberstorm, that was for sure.

"Your mentor will be Amberstorm."

* * *

**Lolz. How will Amberstorm put up with this annoying tom? Oh, Fallenpaw, Waterpaw and Stormpaw are all thirteen moons old~Snowclaw and Dewshade's age. **

**CHALLENGE: Make a cover for the Power of Seven. It could be hand-drawn, it could be drawn on MS Paint, it could be photoshopped, anything, really. Just post it online (preferably on deviantArt. If you don't have an account, you can make one for free) and PM me the link. The winner will (DOI) have their cover as the official cover of The Power of Seven! Good luck to y'all!**

**(Again, you aren't obliged to do this. Guests can send the link through PM, but I'll have to remove it right after. Sorry guys, just following the rules . I know, I know, I hate them too, but I don't want Eliminator on my back.) **

**-Sky**


	5. Joining the Fray

**...Sorry for the really late update, and the really late chapter. This one's sorta boring, but twas neccesary. Work with me, guys.**

**Disclaimer: Fallenpaw..**

**Fallenpaw: *mutters* _mundui_...Sky does not own Warriors! **not gonna make the same mistake that Nightkit did****

* * *

"_What?" Amberstorm exclaimed _incredulously, without thinking, until she realized what had escaped her jaws and she slammed them shut, putting her tail over it for good measure. Cats around her purred, and her face burned. "What?" she repeated, calmer.

Fallenpaw padded over to her, smirking, as if he enjoyed her frustration. _Do I have to _mentor _this piece of fox dung? _Amberstorm thought._ I'll be lucky to teach this cat some manners!  
_Bramblestar continued, ignoring Amberstorm. "Tiny, from now on, until you receive your apprentice and warrior name, your name will be Tinykit."

"Yay, yay, yay!" Tinykit exclaimed, bouncing up and down. "Tinykit! I have a Clan name!" Amberstorm would've purred at her enthusiasm if it weren't for Fallenpaw standing right beside her.

Bramblestar purred and continued, "Stone, from now on, until you receive your warrior and apprentice name, your name will be Stonekit."

"Stonekit!" the solid brown tom kit exclaimed, bowling his sister over. "I have a Clan name too!"

Bramblestar's whiskers twitched. "Meeting dismissed," he meowed as the cats dispersed.

"So, _mentor_, what will you teach me, since you are so much better?" that was Fallenpaw's voice, dripping with sarcasm. Amberstorm rolled her eyes, turned around, facing him squarely.

"Well, for starters, you could practice _my _tongue."

A growl rumbled in Fallenpaw's throat and Amberstorm realized that, though he was an apprentice, he was her age and a little bit bigger. Not that she was intimidated by his size. She had faced opponents much bigger than him (_cough, _BROKENSTAR_, cough, cough_).

"Whatever." Fallenpaw rolled his eyes, then did a mocking salute. "After you, mentor."

"It's _Amberstorm,_" Amberstorm hissed in frustration. It had been less than two moments and already she was feeling the urge to claw his ears off. She flicked her tail toward the camp entrance and sighed. "Come along. I'll show you the territory, or whatever." _Why couldn't I have gotten Waterpaw or Stormpaw instead? Even Oakpaw or Aspenpaw would've been better._

Amberstorm passed Silverpaw and Rockpaw hunting. The apprentices had reached their fourteenth moon, and now they were doing their final assessments before becoming warriors. Fallenpaw eyed them enviously.

"Hurry up," Amberstorm snapped. "The quicker we can finish the territory, the quicker we can move on to training and the quicker you become a warrior and I don't have to deal with you."

Fallenpaw's signature smirk appeared on his face as he followed her obediently. "Yes, _mentor_," Amberstorm heard him mock under his breath, and she let out a low growl as a warning.

They reached the WindClan border. Rain splattered on the open moor, and the wind blew harshly, making the long grass ripple like water. "This is WindClan," she meowed to him, gesturing to the river in front of them. "That's the border into WindClan territory. Don't cross it unless for Gatherings or if it is absolutely necessary." A WindClan hunting patrol passed them, their lean, skinny bodies leaping gracefully despite the rain and wind. They glared at them as they passed.

"What's in _their _fur?" Fallenpaw grumbled.

"WindClan has declared war on ShadowClan," Amberstorm explained. "ThunderClan is on good terms with ShadowClan, seeing as we drove out rogues and their tyrant leader, so WindClan has taken it that we've sided with ShadowClan." she shrugged, then shivered when the cold raindrops soaked through her thin pelt. "We might have a battle coming," she added, trying not to make her teeth chatter.

"Hey, what's that island?" Curiosity had drowned out Fallenpaw's smugness and arrogance, and Amberstorm tried to bask in the moment.

"That's where we meet for Gatherings," Amberstorm explained, still trembling from the cold that was biting into her. "A falling tree, struck by lightning, fell over the gap of water so we could cross it."

Fallenpaw snorted. "That's good. I hate swimming."

Amberstorm exhaled. "Yeah." Suddenly, she noticed that she was no longer cold. She looked to her side to see Fallenpaw pressing up against her, his thick fur warming her up. She looked at him in confusion.

"Hey," Fallenpaw snorted. "You said it yourself. If you get sick, I will personally drag you out and force you to mentor me so I can become a warrior and leave you behind."

_Oh. _Amberstorm shrugged, before stepping forward and breaking the warmth. "Come on," she called briskly. "The sun's almost set. I want to finish showing you the borders and territory before sundown."

"Leaf~I mean, Leafpool has already shown us." Fallenpaw meowed. "The Sky Oak, yadda yadda yadda, the Twoleg Nest, yadda yadda yadda, Jayfeather's herb patch, yadda yadda yadda."

Amberstorm sighed. "Okay, jeez. Let's go." She padded in the direction that she had once met Marshlake, Burnetheart and Heavypelt there, and where she had found Blackstar's body.

"ShadowClan," Amberstorm grunted, as Fallenpaw brushed her pelt once again. She froze, rigid, gritting her teeth. A familiar scent wafted up into her nose.

_Ratstar. Starlingwing. _

Immediately her eyes darted everywhere, attempting to pinpoint the source of the scent. Her fur bristled and her hearing seemed to have disappeared. She suddenly noticed Fallenpaw mouthing something beside her. No...wait, he was _saying _something...

"~kay, okay, if you hate me that much," Fallenpaw stepped back, leaving Amberstorm prey to the cold winds and frosty drops of rain.

Amberstorm blinked. "No, it wasn't you~" she began, before she realized that Fallenpaw was no longer listening and was instead sniffing at the border, looking to see if a leaf was out of place. Amberstorm rolled her eyes. _Fine. Be that way! I don't care! _

Amberstorm returned to Ratstar and Starlingwing's scents and her nose searched intently for a source. She growled in frustration as she realized that the scent was getting staler and the rain was washing it away while the wind blew the scent all over the place, making it impossible to track anything. If she was blind, she would've bet she couldn't have found Fallenpaw, who was beside her.

Quickly, the few parts of the territory that Fallenpaw hadn't seen were rapidly introduced. As night was about to fall, the two exhausted cats pulled themselves in the camp, to find that Silverpaw and Rockpaw's warrior ceremonies had already started.

"I do," Silverpaw was meowing.

"Then I hereby give you your warrior names," Bramblestar announced, turning to the dark gray tom. "Rockpaw, from now on your name will be Rockleap. StarClan honors your courage and bravery." Bramblestar rested his muzzle on the newly-named Rockleap, and he, in turn, licked Bramblestar's shoulder before stepping back on the Highledge.

Bramblestar turned to the blue-eyed former kittypet. "Silverpaw, from now on you will be known as Silverfeather. StarClan honors your perseverance and determination." Silverfeather licked Bramblestar's shoulder as he rested his muzzle on her head. Then the Clan began to chant, "Rockleap! Silverfeather! Rockleap! Silverfeather!" the two new warriors looked slightly abashed.

"Tonight will be you vigil," Bramblestar told them. They nodded and bounced around like excited little kits. Amberstorm then saw Fallenpaw staring at Rockleap and Silverfeather with envy clear in his eyes. To clear up the tension, Amberstorm bumped him and meowed playfully, "Hey, you can't hate me _that _much, can you?"

Fallenpaw turned to look at her with a mixture of surprise and amusement. His blue eyes glowed with something unreadable. "Well~" he never got to finish his sentence, because Snowclaw called, "Amberstorm!"

Amberstorm turned around, a purr already rumbling in her throat as Snowclaw ran over. "Bye," she told Fallenpaw briefly, ignoring the irritated look on his face as she turned to Snowclaw. "Yeah?" she asked him.

Rather than being friendly, which was Amberstorm's first impression, Snowclaw scowled. "It's your first day mentoring him, and you already hang out with him so much." it was more of a statement than a question, obviously.

Amberstorm blinked at Snowclaw's hostile tome, before beginning to laugh. She doubled over, collapsing on the ground, as she howled. When she was done her (inappropriate, as she supposed Halfsnow would say) laughter, she faced Snowclaw again and wiped the tears from her eyes. "You honestly think I would _fall_ for that pile of fox dung?" she asked Snowclaw incredulously, still snickering. She rolled her eyes. "I would rather eat crowfood covered in fox dung than _fall _for him."

Snowclaw looked embarrassed, but relaxed. "Okay," he mumbled sheepishly. "Sorry, there. Got a little overprotective."

"Tell me about it," Amberstorm snorted playfully as they entered the warriors' den and prepared their nests to rest.

* * *

Lionblaze awoke to murmurings outside. He tasted the air. ShadowClan. Grimacing, the ThunderClan deputy groggily pulled himself to his paws and exited the warriors' den. Outside, he saw Toadstar and Stoatfur~who was the new deputy~discussing something with Bramblestar. Skypaw, Stoatfur's apprentice, stayed close to his side, casting awed and scared glances around her every now and then.

"~s with the war?" Toadstar was asking Bramblestar. The dark brown tabby tom grimaced, trying to make a decision, when he noticed Lionblaze and waved him over with his tail.

"Toadstar's asking us to help them in the war," Bramblestar explained. "He says their Clan is still slightly weak from driving out Ratstar, and Kinkfur is still in the medicine cat's den."

"But we would be making an enemy of WindClan," Lionblaze protested.

Bramblestar shrugged. "They already hate us." he meowed. "What have we got to lose?"

"Fine," Lionblaze sighed. "after all, it's your choice."

Bramblestar nodded before turning to Toadstar. "We'll help," he reassured them. Skypaw let out a long sigh of relief before being shot a dirty look from her mentor. "What?" she protested. "WindClan's already attacking us at the moment."

Bramblestar stared at Toadstar. "That's why you requested help?" he asked dryly.

Toadstar managed a weak purr. "It's only when we're desperate that we ask for help, so feel honored." he retorted.

Bramblestar grumbled something under his breath. "ThunderClan! Attack!" he yowled.

* * *

**Let's see which pairing I hinted at ;) ...**

**Question: Who's your favorite character in Warriors, including the OCs in my fanfic? **

**-Sky**

**P.S Check out my novel on Fictionpress! xD It's called 'Broken Down' by InkIntoLife. Category is Supernatrual. Genres are Horror and Fantasy :)**


	6. Nightcloud's Return

**The end of the school year is nearing, which means that I will have to take a lot of tests, including my EQAO ones, that are at the end of this month. I'm also working on my Fictionpress book, Broken Down (penname: InkIntoLife), which means that I don't have a lot of time to work on this. That, and I had absolutely NO inspiration for this. **

**Thank you to the reviewers who NICELY asked me to update, and didn't spam me with reviews telling me to hurry up and update. And I do remember clearly one person told me that if I was doing it for reviews, they were going to stop people from reviewing. Thanks for showing me your support *sarcastic*. **

**Anyway, I'm going to (hopefully!) go back to regular update schedules, but that might be a little difficult for me. Maybe once a week until summer break starts? **

**Ah, the joy in long author notes. **

**Disclaimer: I hate not owning Warriors. **

* * *

_Poppyfrost's blackcough was _gone.

Jayfeather rifled through his small stash of herbs, his face furrowing together in confusion as he attempted to remember what Poppyfrost had ate that had stopped the deadly disease. And where he could find it. He wanted Leafkit cured and out of his den as quick as possible, before her apprentice duties came along. The little kit would be crushed at the prospect of her siblings becoming apprentices before her due to her sickness.

_Let's see here, there wasn't a lot of prey yesterday, so I gave her sorrel, which is basically the only thing that she ate._

Jayfeather froze on that crucial word.

_Sorrel._

Slowly, he groped around his den, looking for where the strips of bark that came from a sorrel tree were. Sorrel bark didn't have a very distinct scent, therefore Jayfeather had to paw around aimlessly several times before he managed to hook one of his claws in a bit of bark.

He snapped the piece in half, placing one paw on top of one side of the bark and another paw under the strip, then pushed the paw that was on top down and the paw that was under up. The strip snapped cleanly in half with a _thack!_, leaving Jayfeather with a nice-sized piece of bark, just big enough to shove it into a kit's mouth.

But Jayfeather wasn't _that _brash (on the contrary, Lionblaze was the most impulsive one from their litter), and first he placed the sorrel in his mouth and chewed it a bit to soften it. Then, he placed the disgustingly-wet mound of chewed up slop and called, "Leafkit!" he heard a weak _pitter-patter _of paws as Leafkit pawed her way over.

"Eat this," Jayfeather mewed softly.

There was a pause, and he imagined Leafkit wrinkling her nose. "Yuck!" she spat after a bit. "What _is _that?" she was briefly interrupted as she relapsed into a bout of coughing and hacking, and pity immediately washed over Jayfeather.

"It'll make you feel better," Jayfeather meowed simply. Leafkit needed no more persuasion~obediently, she licked up the chewed sorrel and gulped it with a shudder of disgust. "Please don't make me do that again," she murmured.

Jayfeather leaned down and licked her on the head. "Fine," he sighed.

_I may not be allowed to have kits, but maybe, just maybe, I can pretend Leafkit's mine...mine and Halfsnow's._

* * *

Amberstorm groaned and dared crack open one of her eyes. Halfsnow was shaking her frantically, yelling something that she couldn't hear. And couldn't care. Less. With a grumble, Amberstorm dug herself deeply into her mossy nest. "Whatvertisdontcarelemmeslep," she slurred, her eyes squeezing shut.

Suddenly she felt hot breath on her ear, a different voice. "C'mon, Amberstorm, what's the matter?" the voice murmured cajolingly, sending shivers down her spine. Irritated at finally admitting defeat, she pushed herself to her paws, ignored the scrap of moss still clinging to her golden-brown fur, and glared at the gloating amber-eyed white-furred tom. A smug smirk was plastered onto his face, and Halfsnow, behind him, looked slightly amused.

"You piece of fox dung, screw you, Snowclaw!" Amberstorm scowled, but her angers disappeared once Snowclaw stepped a bit closer to her, all traces of playfulness erased from his eyes.

"We've joined ShadowClan as allies in the war," Snowclaw scowled. "Which means that we must..._assist _them now that WindClan has attacked them. And both Bramblestar and Toadstar will have our pelts if we ditch."

"Fine." Amberstorm sighed.

"The apprentices are coming," Halfsnow called out.

Amberstorm screamed something that was probably going to scar Lightningpaw, Featherpaw, Windpaw and Petalpaw for life. Biting her lip in frustration, she pulled herself over and yelled into the den, "Fallenpaw! Get your lazy butt out there and hurry up! We're going to a battle!"

Nothing.

"Fallenpaw!"

Still nothing. In fact, there were only Windpaw and Petalpaw who drowsily shook themselves awake.

"Boo."

Amberstorm almost jumped out of her pelt as she suddenly heard someone mew something behind her. Growling, she spun around to meet the amused eyes of Fallenpaw.

"You little~" she spat, before she had to bite her lip to avoid letting out another mistake slip out of her mouth and scar the poor young apprentices again. Instead, she said simply, "When we get back from the battle, I swear I will strangle you."

"Aww, is poor wittle Amberstorm _undignified_ now? Aww, poor wittle you!"

"In a few moments, you will be feeling sorry for your 'poor, wittle neck'."

"I'd like to see you try!"

"I'd like to do it, but unfortunately for _me_, the warrior code says I'm not allowed to kill."

"Didn't stop you."

"Okay."

"Whoa, I didn't literally mean that~that~AMBERSTORM!" Fallenpaw scrambled away from Amberstorm's delicately unsheathed claw.

"Aww, is poor wittle Fallenpaw _scared _now? Aww, poor wittle you!"

"I. Hate. You." Fallenpaw bit out. As mentor and apprentice ran toward the borderline that split ShadowClan and ThunderClan, he hissed under his breath, "Unoriginal."

"Excuse me? Did I hear you say something?"

"Nothing! Nothing."

A long silence stretched out as the two cats ran, side by side. Soon enough, Amberstorm heard the screams and trampling of fighting cats. Letting out an almost inaudible sigh of relief, Amberstorm quickened her pace until she was almost sprinting, and, with a caterwaul, she leaped onto the first cat she saw.

It was a tom, surprisingly bulky and large for a warrior of WindClan. With a growl, he faced her, then froze when he smelt her scent, that was clinging to her like the piece of moss that _refused _to budge from her pelt. "ThunderClan? Is ShadowClan so weak that they actually _admit _they have allies?" he shook his head in mock emotion. "Impressive."

Unfortunately for him, his cocky little speech had cost him the battle, as the moment he began his last word, Amberstorm let out a second caterwaul and pounced on him, trying to throw all her weight on him before digging her thorn-sharp curved claws in his flesh and watching the crimson liquid spill to the ground with cold indifference. Glaring at the tom, whose eyes were now round with shock and trying to register what had happened, Amberstorm lashed out at his belly, her teeth connecting with the soft flesh and a coppery taste filled her mouth. Blood.

She smirked when she heard his yowl of pain, and leaped off of him just as he was rolling over. Once the WindClan tom had regained his pawing, Amberstorm feinted to the left, and, as the tom turned, pounced on him sideways and pinned him firmly under her grasp. She leaned down and sank her teeth into his side, earning herself a yowl of pain. He squirmed. Amberstorm kept her grip, determined to wound the tom until she was sure he was going to give up and run away. Right as she swiped her claws across his flank again, her vision suddenly went dark and her breath was cut short as she was viciously knocked over by a she-cat.

She smelled faintly of WindClan, but stronger scents of rogue overlapped it. Her eyes were dark and furious, and Amberstorm was sure she only knocked Amberstorm over to attack her, not to save the tom. Amberstorm looked at her opponent's black fur, and suddenly she realized that this cat she had met before. A long time ago, a part where Amberstorm barely remembered, but her name she remembered distinctly.

_Nightcloud._

"Ah, so, finally recognize me?" Nightcloud bared her teeth. "I'm actually pretty surprised. Your ego's so big, I heard you killed Scorchfur and Crowfrost." the tom beside her got up, his teeth bared, ignoring Nightcloud, when it hit her. No wonder the tom was so big, and he ignored Nightcloud's murderous intent, he was her accomplice. No WindClan scent clung to his pelt like ThunderClan scent did to Amberstorm's. Amberstorm growled with resentment and thrashed around, but Nightcloud kept her firm grip. The tom behind her licked his lips in malice, bloodlust clear in his eyes. With a yowl of triumph, he sprang into the air...

...only to get knocked backward by a flash of brown fur.

_What? _Amberstorm blinked her eyes to make sure that it was Fallenpaw who had just attacked the tom. Her eyes stretched wide with disbelief, before ignoring it, taking it as sheer luck, and gazed into Nightcloud's murky depths of hatred. Summoning all her strength, she slammed her hind paws onto Nightcloud's belly with all the force she could muster. As Nightcloud's maw opened and she loosened her grip in pain, Amberstorm swung herself upward, throwing Nightcloud off and making her clear three fox-lengths before she slammed into a tree, which slowed her flying to a halt.

Nightcloud groaned and twitched, and Amberstorm could tell the older she-cat was slipping into unconsciousness, though she didn't want to. When Nightcloud opened her eyes, they were blurry and unfocused, and slowly her eyelids slid down until the black she-cat lay motionless.

Cautiously, Amberstorm picked her way among bogs of swamp mud and stared, standing right in front of Nightcloud. Without warning, the she-cat let open her eyes and sprang on her with a ferocious caterwaul. Amberstorm yowled with surprise, even as she was barreled over. She growled and attacked Nightcloud's stomach again, but her strength was faltering, no power behind her kicks. Nightcloud growled and shoved harder, pressing Amberstorm deeper into the swamp water. Amberstorm's grip loosened.

The she-cat, seeing victory, raised her head and cackled, while Amberstorm discreetly smirked while swinging her paw, trailing an ugly scar across her face. Nightcloud yelped in pain, and she quickly rolled off of Amberstorm, clutching her face in agony. When she looked up, Amberstorm realized that one of her eyes were blinded.

"You little~" she snarled, stepping forward, but, luckily for Amberstorm, at that moment Ashstar yelled, "WindClan! Retreat!"

Amberstorm stared at Nightcloud with a purr rumbling in her throat. "Yeah, Nightcloud, _retreat_." she mimicked.

Nightcloud growled and her claws slid out, and suddenly Amberstorm knew how much she ached to sink them in her flesh. Nevertheless, she flicked her tail toward the tom, who was still grappling with Fallenpaw, and they retreated along with WindClan, though Amberstorm saw that they split apart from the group once they had crossed the border into their own territory.

Fallenpaw stood up, glaring at the tom, before he turned to Amberstorm with a mischievous smirk on his face. "Well, then, Amberstorm? Got anything to say?"

"Yeah. You. Are. A. Piece. Of. Fox dung." she purred sweetly at him.

"Oh, yeah, wonderful thanks for the cat that saved your life!"

"Hmm...I think 'saved your life' is stretching it a little. How about, 'saved your dignity'?"

"Whatever!" Fallenpaw growled and stomped away. "Great StarClan, _she-cats_."

"Excuse me? Did I hear something?"

"Nothing! Nothing."

* * *

**So you can see here that Amberstorm and Fallenpaw still hate each other ^^ It's actually pretty fun to write them fighting (lolz my bad mood went away). Anyway, this time I have ANOTHER question for you: where does Fallenpaw rank on your list of favorite cats? I dunno...I'm just curious. **

**And to all the people who are working on the challenge that I gave them to make a cover page for the Power of Seven, could you all send the link if you're done? **

**-Sky **


	7. Enlisting Help

**You guys are lucky to have this chapter. Honestly. My EQAO things are coming up (stupid shit things, excuse my language) and there is also the fact that I have to write an essay about a document in french (that I haven't even started, and yes, I'm in french immersion) and yet again we have to do a bunch of tests in math because there are a bunch of units that we haven't done, like algebra (x.x kill me now) so...yeah. I think it's pretty unlikely that I'll be alive at the end of the school year...**

**Anyway, if anyone's finishing up their cover, could you please post it ONLINE so I could view it, because apparently you can't send things through Image Manager or attach a file to a PM. -.-* I didn't ask for this either, don't blame me. **

**Disclaimer: Stupid...don'townWarriors...*grumble grumble grumble***

* * *

_The wind swept through _ThunderClan camp as Cinderheart curled protectively around her whimpering kits. Morningkit dug herself deep into Cinderheart's belly, as if she could hide forever in her mother's stomach. Sootkit peered curiously over her tail, his tiny paws massaging her tail unintentionally, kneading the fur with fear. The wind shrieked and howled and whistled, all the while, Cinderheart could hear caterwauls and trampling of the fighting cats, which, she had to admit, didn't help calm her kits.

Nightkit and Redkit had stopped their boisterous yelling, and now slept peacefully in the crook of Daisy's belly. Cinderheart envied her. At least she didn't need to worry about one of her kits dying and two others frightened to the point where their fur stood up stiffly.

"WindClan! Retreat!" Cinderheart almost jumped with joy when she heard the call. A few moments later, cats entered the clearing. They were all caked with mud, battered, bruised and wounded, but triumphant. Sootkit and Morningkit squeaked with excitement just as Blossomfall's kits woke up and squealed with excitement.

_Oh, StarClan. It'll take Blossomfall a while to get those little ones back to sleep. _

She caught a flash of golden fur among the horde of cats, and her throat rumbled with a purr. Her mate, Lionblaze, picked his way through the crowd to a stop in front of the nursery, and laughed with amusement as he was bowled over by two of his energetic kits.

"Lionblaze! Lionblaze!" they cheered.

Cinderheart purred again, then looked at Lionblaze questioningly, her mind automatically flickering over to her third young she-kit, Leafkit. The tiny kit was still living in Jayfeather's den, plagued with the new sickness that he had named _blackcough_. She looked longingly at the den, wanting with all her heart to enter and check in on her precious little kit, but her eyes flickered back over to Sootkit and Morningkit. They were coping well, and got along okay with the other kits, but still Cinderheart could tell that they felt a little uncomfortable around them, being born outside of Clan territory. If she left, even for a few moments, they would fall into hysterics.

Lionblaze trailed her gaze toward his brother's den, and rubbed his tail along her spine soothingly. "I checked in on her," he reassured. "Jayfeather said that she's improving, and, at this rate, she'll be able to leave the den in a quarter moon. He also believes that he found the cure to blackcough."

Cinderheart's spirits lifted.

She looked at her kits again. How old were they now? Already four moons. Cinderheart couldn't believe how fast they've grown. Though they were becoming apprentices on their seventh moon due to their birth being premature, thus making them smaller, Cinderheart somehow wanted to shield her kits from the violence and dangers of a warrior.

_What am I thinking? _Cinderheart sighed to herself. _They need to become warriors, and serve their Clan. It's an honor to do that, even kits know that. _

"Attack!"

Suddenly, Lionblaze's eyes widened in alarm and he whipped around, only to have a WindClan warrior land squarely on him. Cinderheart heard him let out an _oomph_ as the air flew out of her mate's body. Desperately, she wanted to help, but, against her intentions, she bundled up her kits in moss and shoved them to the back wall of the nursery, trying to protect them as much as she could. Daisy and Blossomfall obviously had the same thoughts, as their kits also sat there, huddling in the soft, green, springy moss. Nightkit and Ebonykit peered excitedly over the moss, trying to get the best view, while Mallowkit cowered in mute terror, instinctively knowing that, if she was caught, she wouldn't be able to cry for help.

Soon enough, a WindClan warrior showed up in front of the nursery, hissing. He bowled over Blossomfall, who readily swiped over his ears. They twisted and tumbled away in a flurry of claws, teeth and fur. Briarlight, with her bloated belly, could only sit and watch helplessly as, one by one, the nursery queens fought, and left the kits even more vulnerable.

Another WindClan tom showed up, his eyes baying clearly for blood. He let out a caterwaul and attempted to slide into the nursery, but Cinderheart swiftly blocked his way while Daisy swiped at his face, letting a bit of blood surface. The tom reared up and attempted to smash Cinderheart with his superior strength, but Cinderheart managed to dart under his belly and nip him before pulling out, hissing and spitting.

_Wham! _For a few moments, Cinderheart could only hear her pounding head and feel her body lying on the cool stone floor of the nursery, and then she opened her eyes, realizing that the WindClan tom had dealt a heavy blow to her head, possibly purposely bashing her head in the rock. Her head throbbed, and she groaned, wanting to stay there, until she hear Daisy's terrified squeak. Cinderheart remembered how Daisy was only trained to fight for the supposed final battle for the Stars. She was about as good as a trained apprentice.

Struggling to get up, Cinderheart momentarily staggered before she leaped, missing the tom by a fox-length. She bit back a groan from her pounding head. Behind her, the kits squeaked, terrified. Even Nightkit and Ebonykit seemed subdued.

"Why?" Cinderheart managed to gasp out as she blearily swiped at the tom, as the tom tucked in his legs and neatly dodged the messy attack. "Why are you attacking the queens and kits, instead of the warriors and apprentices?"

"Because," the tom's voice murmured. "WindClan has been wronged twice. We are _dying_. Kits mewl for their mother's nonexistent milk. Elders are being picked off, one by one, thanks to the sickness. Apprentices drop dead in the middle of the training." for the first time, Cinderheart noticed his frail body, despite the fact that his movements were quick and sturdy.

"We have been plagued by blackcough."

"Jayfeather's found the cure," Cinderheart suddenly blurted out, before cursing herself for her foolishness.

The tom's eyes brightened. "What did you say?"

"I said that Jayfeather's found coltsfoot," Cinderheart lied uneasily.

"You didn't say that. Tell me." The tom thrust his face near hers, his eyes burning with a thirst for information.

"No."

Cinderheart squeaked as the tom shoved her into the wall. "_Tell me_," he pressed, his eyes filled with fire.

"Jayfeather's found the cure," Cinderheart sighed reluctantly.

"Hn." was all the tom said as he stood up and walked away, leaving the kits and Daisy utterly dumbfounded and Cinderheart with a queasy feeling in her stomach.

_Oh, StarClan, what did I just do? _

* * *

"There you go," Jayfeather murmured, feeding a pawful of sorrel bark into Leafkit's waiting jaws. The young kit obediently clamped up the bark and gulped, before falling asleep straight on her paws, the poppy seeds that Jayfeather had fed her earlier already taking effect. Gently, he picked the kit by her scruff and laid her down on a bit of soft moss.

"You're pretending she's your daughter, aren't you?"

Jayfeather almost jumped at Halfsnow's voice. He whipped around, a tiny snarl pulling at his lips due to his frustration about how he had been so easily read.

"No," he lied unevenly, pretending to busy himself by sorting the almost-nonexistent pile of herbs that were left. "Why would you think that?" silently, he cursed himself. He could lie anytime, anywhere, to any cat, except Halfsnow.

"You act like it," was her simple answer.

The gray-and-white she-cat had yet to recover still from her assault. Her scar was healing, and it left a curious shape in her fur, a moon, half-blackened. She was okay, overall, except for the occasion where she moved too suddenly, stretched the healing wound, opened it again, and started bleeding. She was to wait in Jayfeather's den until the fur grew over it.

"No, I don't," Jayfeather growled, frustration overtaking him.

"It's because we won't be able to have kits, isn't it." it was more of a statement than a question.

Jayfeather remained silent, trying to brush the comment off.

"You knew we would never work out," came her accusing voice again. "Why don't you come out and admit it?"

Jayfeather turned on her, his irritation and fury, mostly caused by her being right, thickening the air. _"Shut. Up," _he growled. "If you're well enough to go and bother me, you might as well go outside and try to hunt in this sloppy weather."

There was a pause, and Jayfeather imagined, with a pang, Halfsnow's surprised and hurt expression. Then, she turned around and stalked out the den. "Fine," she scowled coldly.

Jayfeather sank to his paws.

_I'm such an idiot, aren't I? _

* * *

The mud-tipped grass brushed against Dovewing's flank, and she pushed it away brusquely. Her light gray fur was now stained with brown, though the pelting rain quickly rinsed it off. A burning sensation on her flank, courtesy of Bouldernose, stung badly, though Jayfeather had already coated it in a layer of cobwebs.

A branch scratched her, and, with an irritated growl, Dovewing swiped at it, a loud noise in an otherwise quiet forest. It didn't matter. All the prey was deep in their holes.

She took a deep breath and tried to steady her pounding heart. Again and again, her common sense protested, _Don't do it! Are you crazy?! _but Dovewing's determination burned it out. She couldn't believe what she was doing. Then again, she didn't have much of a choice, in the matter. She remembered her conversation with Lionblaze, after they'd stashed the Orb in a safe hiding place.

_"When will we use it?" Dovewing asked, her lip twitching in curiosity. She stared at the carved sphere, power radiating off of it in waves. _

_Lionblaze scowled. "We won't," was his simple yet firm answer. As Dovewing opened her mouth to protest, he continued. "This Orb contains _immense _power, Dovewing. Strong enough to wipe out all four Clans, and StarClan along with it, if placed in the wrong paws. We don't even know _how _to use it. Do you think I want to take the risk?" _

_Dovewing stared at him, sullen. "That kind of power could also destroy the Dark Forest for good," she reminded him. "If we take the risk, there's a chance that a huge battle won't happen, and cats won't die." _

_"Cats have already died," was Lionblaze's dark sigh. "So many lost." _

_"Then why don't we use it?" Dovewing challenged him. _

_"Because, if we mess up, a lot more deaths will occur," Lionblaze told her firmly. "I don't want something like, 'Oh, wait, which spot was I supposed to press again? _Oops_!' to happen. At all." _

_"You're protecting Cinderheart, and your kits," Dovewing guessed. _

_Lionblaze blinked, and Dovewing realized that she had hit a sore spot. Romance wasn't in her favor, as Tigerheart still had no clue who she was. _

_Suddenly, without warning, Lionblaze turned tail and stalked away, pausing for a moment, then growling over his shoulder, "We will _not _use the Orb. Not until we have a clear idea of how to use it. Even if that's never." _

_And then he stalked away, not even casting a glance at his former apprentice. _

Dovewing shuddered at the memory. She had never seen Lionblaze so angry and defensive before. _Maybe...just because I'm not lucky in love doesn't mean he has to, too. _

She shook those thoughts off, her mind set in stone again. _No matter. This is for our sakes, I'm saving us all. _

Determined, she marched forward, even as her heart pounded painfully, harder and faster, adrenaline coursing through her veins.

She found it where they left it; in the hole of a large, old, gnarled oak tree, contrary to the fact that the others thought it was safely hidden behind a pile of twigs and leaves. Only she and Lionblaze knew. Dovewing so that she could check up on it anytime, Lionblaze in case a cat needed to defend it. It was the most strategical way. The less cats knew, the better. Dovewing didn't want one of her friends captured and tortured until they gave up valuable information, then used as a trap to lure other cats in and eliminate them.

Dovewing rubbed off the squirrel dung that was rolled onto the ball and plucked off the leaves and twigs, numbing the immense power. The intricate and complex designs swirled around the surface, whispering things in tongues Dovewing couldn't understand. Finally, she caught one in her own tongue, addressed to none other than her.

_"Gray cat, with stars in her paws, Wing of Dove, why have you come to seek me?" _

Dovewing gritted her teeth. She knew that Cognitor Omnia Quae had transferred his power into the Orb, given it the ability to speak to cats, but she couldn't help but feel the tinniest bit creeped out.

"I come here to seek help," Dovewing announced. "Tensions are escalating. Between the Clans, that is. We of ThunderClan can barely feed ourselves, never mind win a war. WindClan has declared itself enemy on us. How will you help us?"

_"Ah, but the question is, how will you help _me_? One good turn deserves another, they say. Prove to me that you are able to do me a favor before I do you one." _

Dovewing bit her lip, panic rising inside of her. She hadn't expected for this to happen. "Once I prove my favor, how will I know you will help me?"

_"I could very well ask you the same thing. Very well, we shall make a compromise. You shant prove it to me, but I shall not help you. I shall instead give you a piece of the future." _

Dovewing dipped her head in what she hoped was a formal fashion. "Very well," she murmured, her tongue thick in her mouth, her throat swelling up.

_"Winds of anger, Shadows deny,_

_The cries of Amber, left in wind to fly, _

_One of trickery, one of revenge,_

_And one last foe, shall the battle end." _

Dovewing blinked, the cryptic prophecy ringing in her ears.

_Winds of anger, Shadows deny,_

_That must be WindClan's fury at ShadowClan, who are denying that they did anything, _Dovewing thought.

_The cries of Amber, left in wind to fly, _

Dovewing furrowed her brow at that. Amber must've been Amberstorm, the feisty she-cat who was also Halfsnow's sister. But what about her cries? And left in wind?

_One of trickery, one of revenge,_

Dovewing was uncertain about who those two cats were, but she was sure those two were foes they needed to face. Her heart sank. _More and more enemies gained by the moment..._

_And one last foe, shall the battle end. _

_Tigerstar. _The name rang in Dovewing's ears. Of course. He was the cat that started it all. And they were the cats that will end it all.

* * *

**Question: what do you think the cryptic prophecy from the Orb means? Poll on my profile! Review and check it out! **

**-Sky**


	8. Secret Discovered

**Sorry guys...but my EQAO exams are this week...not to mention I still have to write an essay in french that's due on monday that I haven't started, and that I have two projects I need to finish...so y'all get the point. I'll update more when summer break starts. **

**Disclaimer: *yawns* idownwarriors.**

* * *

_"Hey! Amberstorm!" Fallenpaw hollered _beside her.

"No. Go away." Amberstorm crouched down, cursing when she saw the tiny mouse scamper away.

Fallenpaw pouted. "But you didn't even hear what I had to say!"

"Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure it's not good. Go away."

A sly look went on Fallenpaw's face. "Why?"

"Because you're scaring all the prey away with that face of yours."

"Oh, really? And yours _isn't_?"

"Yes, it isn't."

"Aw, you're no fun."

"Deal with it."

"You're supposed to be my mentor! _Teach me things_!"

"I shall teach you how deep I can slash my claws in flesh pretty soon."

Fallenpaw started backing away. "I'm good." realization dawned on his face. "_Hey_! If you don't teach me things, I'm going to report you to Bramblestar for not being able to teach me properly and then he'll put me with someone else!"

"Gasp. Cry. I care _so_ much." Amberstorm's tone dripped with sarcasm.

"Seriously."

Amberstorm sighed, giving up the hunt. _"Fine," _she grumbled. "You know how to fight?"

Fallenpaw shrugged. "More or less. We've always had to fight other rogues when we were just a family."

Amberstorm curled her lip. "This will be fun, then," she assured him. "Try battle training. No claws."

Almost immediately Fallenpaw fell into a battle crouch. Amberstorm studied where his paws were placed and shook her head. "No, look," she pushed his front two paws back to his body. "Your paws are too widespread. That'll make you lose your balance when attacking and defending, and will decrease your power overall because you need to use a bigger area."

Fallenpaw blinked. "What?"

Amberstorm rolled her eyes. "Paws. Closer to body. Will lose power and will lose balance. That simple enough for you?"

"Yep," Fallenpaw snorted, tucking his brown paws closer himself. Quickly, he tipped over and Amberstorm's tail shot out to steady him.

"You mousebrain," she sighed. "That's too close. Imagine balancing a tree on an ant. Not too far, not too close." She adjusted his paws, then pawed her way back to her former position. "Okay, now attack."

Fallenpaw pushed off his legs and sprang. Too easy. Amberstorm rolled and pounced on him the moment his paws landed on the muddy ground, pinning him on his side and ignoring his squirms. "Too slow," she told him plainly. She let him up. "Try again."

Immediately, Fallenpaw's paw swiped underneath Amberstorm's legs, making her lose balance. She stumbled, and Fallenpaw kicked her other paws out from her and she went down. He rested his paws on her back, not pushing, but keeping her firmly in place. "That fast enough for you?" he asked.

Amberstorm snorted. "Not quite." she darted under Fallenpaw's belly, flipped him over with sheathed paws, and pinned him on his back. "Don't let your guard down."

"How do you do this so well?" he complained. "I don't see someone like Rosepetal doing this. I want to try, at least."

"The D~" Amberstorm stopped herself. "Nothing," she mewed shortly, getting off him and dusting her paws off. "Come on. I want to hunt."

As she started walking, she noticed Fallenpaw eyeing her strangely.

_That was close. I almost revealed my position in the Dark Forest as a spy. _She scolded herself. _I need to be more careful in the future. I can't let Marshlake down._

Once the duo were finished their catches, a scrawny mouse and a blackbird, they made their way back to the camp. Once they arrived, a certain dark ginger she-cat with amber eyes an four white paws marched up to her. "Say, Amberstorm," Whitepaw mewed sweetly. "Can we talk?"

"We are talking." Amberstorm eyed Whitepaw suspiciously. It was unusual that the daughter of Bramblestar and Squirrelflight was talking to her so politely.

"I mean in private. There are some things that I need to discuss with you." Whitepaw said impatiently. Amberstorm's ear twitched. _Ah, what's the harm? I can easily take her, even if it's two-on-one. _

"Sure," she answered, trying not to look suspicious. She tossed her blackbird to Fallenpaw. "Here," she called. "Put this on the fresh-kill pile. I'll be right back."

She let Whitepaw lead her out of the camp and behind a gigantic maple tree. Then the apprentice narrowed her eyes.

"Now tell me again why you're trying to steal Snowclaw away from me?" she scowled. "Quit being so selfish. You have Fallenpaw."

_Fallenpaw?! Where did _that _come from? _

"Please," Amberstorm retorted, trying to hide her confusion. "I was the one who had him first. _You _were the one who stole him from _me_."

"_You _left him," Whitepaw snorted.

"As if!"

"Why don't you shut up?!"

"I thought you brought me here to _discuss _things?"

"Shut up! Now tell me why you're after him."

"Which one do you want me to do? Shut up or tell you? I can't do both."

"_Tell me! _And then shut up!"

"What if I don't want to?"

Whitepaw growled. "I have Bumblestripe as my mentor. His mate is Dovewing, one of the Three. If you don't do as told, I'll make you sorry!"

Amberstorm laughed. "Please, kit. It's a million moons early for you to take me on." she purred a bit and stepped forward, feeling the fading sunlight illuminate her golden-brown fur. "You know the Dark Forest? I _train _there. So, please, try not to make me kill you."

Whitepaw blanched. Her tail went rigid and Amberstorm saw her begin to tremble. Finally, she turned tail and ran away.

And that's when Amberstorm smelt the scent and felt the sinking feeling.

She turned around. "Fallenpaw?!"

* * *

"Come in."

Lionblaze stifled a purr as he entered Bramblestar's den. "How'd you know I was outside your den?" he asked.

"Your scent," Bramblestar replied distractedly. "What's wrong?"

Lionblaze hesitated. _Should I tell him what Ashstar requested yesterday? _He gritted his teeth. She had specifically told him to give the message to Bramblestar, but...

"Ashstar and a group of WindClan warriors met me on the border yesterday." he blurted out.

Lionblaze saw Bramblestar stiffen involuntarily. "What did they do?" he asked, his voice and tone taut.

"They told me to give you a message. A request, actually, to temporarily call off the war."

"Why?" Bramblestar's voice was suspicious now.

"They need our help," Lionblaze explained. "We're not the only ones who are plagued by blackcough. WindClan is, too. Ashstar knows we know what the cure is. They're dying."

"We can't help them." Bramblestar's tone was harsh. "We're barely scraping by. If we make them stronger, what will become of us?"

"It's not a few warriors. It's the entire Clan. Don't forget~rabbits are hiding deep in their dens due to the weather and their part of the forest, like ours, isn't enough. If we give them the cure, we'll be stopping their evident deaths. We can't let them die off. Their kits are dying because their mothers have no milk. They have no elders left, too. They need our help."

He saw Bramblestar hesitate. "When you put it like that...but what of ShadowClan?"

Lionblaze gritted his teeth. "And of WindClan?"

Bramblestar nodded slowly. "I'll think about it."

Lionblaze breathed a sigh of relief as he exited the den, padding over to the nursery. It had been his daily routine ever since he had gotten back. Go hunting. Patrol. Go visit Cinderheart and the kits. Sleep. Wake up. Do it all over again.

When he got back, he saw a sight to behold; Morningkit, Sootkit, Ebonykit, Deerkit, Nightkit, Redkit and Mallowkit were showing Leafkit around.

"And that's the place where water falls!" Deerkit was declaring. "It's cool and yummy." Mallowkit nodded vigorously with agreement.

"Do you know how to play mossball?" Ebonykit called.

Cinderheart and Blossomfall were watching them with amused looks.

Leafkit looked a bit dizzy. "No, not re~" her eyes lolled back into her head as she collapsed.

Lionblaze was beside her before he even knew what was happening. "Leafkit?" he asked frantically, standing over his daughter's minuscule body.

"Jayfeather!" Blossomfall called.

In a few moments, the mottled gray tabby tom was standing over Leafkit, feeding her sorrel bark and juniper berries.

"Blackcough's symptoms last long, even with the antidote," Jayfeather scowled. "Poppyfrost isn't one hundred percent either. But..Leafkit~" he closed his eyes. "Kits' bodies aren't as good as combating diseases as well as adult cats and their immune system isn't as strong. Poppyfrost may take a full recovery, but Leafkit will stay like this. For her entire life. I didn't realize that until now." his milky blind blue eyes flitted over to Lionblaze, seemingly piercing him although he couldn't see. "Leafkit will never be able to be a warrior now."

* * *

Whitepaw trailed through the mucky undergrowth, shock seeping clear through her, Amberstorm's words ringing again and again through her ears.

_"Please, kit. It's a million moons for you to take me on." _

_"You know the Dark Forest? I _train _there." _

_"Please, try not to make me kill you." _

The first time, the words hadn't quite registered in her ears. Then, the meaning slowly sunk in, and Whitepaw finally understood the words. The Dark Forest was rising. And Amberstorm was a part of them.

That explained why she had always carried herself so cockily, so arrogantly, so confidently, and had fought so efficiently, even after sustaining many injuries. That also explained how she was able to rip a life from Ratstar, the tom that had murdered Blackstar easily. Blackstar was a powerful leader, once part of Brokenstar's elite group, then was part of the siege on ThunderClan that had gotten Tigerstar kicked out all those moons ago, and finally on Tigerstar's own elite group, though he fought valiantly against BloodClan in the final battle.

Basically, Blackstar was a strong warrior, and Ratstar had managed to murder him. Furthermore, Amberstorm had been able to take one of _his _lives in return.

And the fact that the Dark Forest was rising yet again. She had heard nursery stories from Squirrelflight. The Dark Forest had managed to kill many cats in the battle for the Stars. They were not to be toyed with. Whitepaw was sure that Amberstorm, too, had heard these stories. Suddenly, she realized that Amberstorm was a spy for the Dark Forest.

_Figures. No one ever knew who her parents were. She must've been some rogues' and decided to prove her worth. _Whitepaw snorted, almost feeling pity for the she-cat. Almost, that is. _Pathetic. _

Whitepaw gritted her teeth. She had information. She could rat out that she-cat. She could get her exiled from ThunderClan. She could have Snowclaw. And that mousebrain Fallenpaw could go chase after her if he wanted.

But Whitepaw wouldn't.

She knew how to play her moves better.

Blackmail.

She knew she would be able to use that against her, whether in battle or fighting over Snowclaw. Seriously. Why not go chase after Fallenpaw?

She entered the camp, ignoring the hostile looks that many of the apprentices were giving her. "Hey, Stormpaw," she greeted the brown tabby tom. Though Stormpaw was Fallenpaw's littermate, he was nowhere as mousebrained, and polite. She knew that a lot of the apprentices disliked her, aside from the ever-so-shy Petalpaw, but that she-cat was so insecure and shy that Whitepaw wouldn't be surprised if she submitted to a mouse. But Windpaw~_that _apprentice had fire in her.

It wasn't actually Whitepaw's fault, really. It was because she never got any sleep. Even when she was a kit. Her dreams tormented her, always a pit of blackness, devoid of any light or positive feeling. And claws, as black as the night, slashed her, though the cat itself was invisible. Every night she would cry out in pain, and every morning she woke up, with her injuries quickly disappearing and leaving Squirrelflight pondering about her daughter's mental condition. She fell in love with Snowclaw when he appeared in her dream...

_Whitekit shrieked in pain as the claws tore through her again. She stumbled, feeling the crumbly dirt of the dark pit against her bloodstained ginger fur. Blood seeped out of the newly acquired wound, and she gasped with pain, unsure whether she was able to stand it anymore._

_"Had enough, kit?" a voice taunted. "Submit already!" _

No, _Whitekit thought, determined. _I'm loyal to _ThunderClan_! I'm not going to give up, because I'm going to be a warrior!

_"Stubborn," the voice laughed, and the claws shot out again, grasping her throat and pinning her against the dirt wall. Whitekit choked, her breath cut off. "Your stupid personality will cause your untimely death." _

_"I'm...loyal..to...ThunderClan!" Whitekit managed to gasp out. "I'm never going to give up!" _

_A low chuckle sounded. "Seems like I'll be able to have some more fun with you." his voice sent chills and shivers up Whitekit's spine. _

_The tom's other paw was raised, poised to strike Whitekit, when a call sounded. "Hey! Quit that!" a snow-white tom barreled into the unseen cat. Snowpaw._

_Whitekit stared at him as she slowly slid onto the ground. Snowpaw turned to her, his amber eyes full of concern. "Are you alright?" he asked. _

_Whitekit let out a weak whimper, all the fight in her gone. _

_Snowpaw gently licked the top of her head. "Don't worry," he assured her. "You're alright now. I'll protect you." _

And he did. Every night, just as Whitepaw wanted to give up again, he would attack the invisible tom and save her. But always she felt so useless. Especially after she had became an apprentice. Clearly, a brand-new apprentice wasn't strong enough to fight a trained specialist at torturing cats.

She thought back to Amberstorm's incredible fighting skill. She curled her lip.

"Stormpaw," she began. "I'm a little tired. I'm going to take a nap, alright?" Stormpaw nodded, stepping aside to let her in the apprentices' den. Whitepaw curled up in her soft nest made of moss and quickly started dreaming.

Her paws hit the dusty ground again. She was in the pit of Eternal Torture, at least what she liked to call it. She heard the sound of the tom's paws hitting the ground, and she turned to where the sound was coming from.

"Take me to the Dark Forest." she demanded immediately. For a moment, she felt confusion rolling off of the tom in waves, until understanding blocked that feeling off.

"Finally caught on, eh?"

Whitepaw could've sworn she heard a purr in the tom's tone.

* * *

**I guess I wanted to provide background info about Whitepaw, and I'm pretty sure all of you don't hate her _as much_ anymore. Ah, well. It's an improvement, eh? Okay, now, Question: What do you think Whitepaw is going to do, now that she knows Amberstorm trains in the Dark Forest? Review!**

**-Sky**


	9. Helping WindClan

**I SINCERELY apologise for my lateness. School has almost ended (YAHOO!) and all our tests are almost finished, but I haven't finished my art assignment, and report cards are coming Tuesday, which means I need to hand it in on Monday and I am RUSHING. **

**On another note, it looks like I'm putting in a lot of special POVs now. Whatevs. **

**Disclaimer: GOTTAFINISHMYART~OWNINOTWARRIORS!**

* * *

_Amberstorm walked her way _through the dead and shriveled undergrowth of the Dark Forest, close to wrinkling her nose in disgust. The mud clumped stubbornly on her paws, turning her golden-brown tabby fur just plain brown. "Stupid..." she snarled under her breath.

"Hm? What's stupid?" a cat's voice sounded behind her, and Amberstorm calmly turned around, though inside she was screaming as she ran around, and Amberstorm was quite grateful that it was only her _mentally_, or else physically she would've already slammed into a tree. Wait, but that wouldn't make any sense, because technically, she was dreaming, therefore not in reality, but...

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "You are," she replied to Hawkfrost. The tom's icy blue eyes glittered with annoyance, and he growled.

"Careful. I don't want to rip you apart, bit by bit," he taunted.

"Like you can," Amberstorm scoffed.

His claws slid out. "Shut up!"

"Why don't you?!"

They were circling each other, their claws unsheathed and ready to pounce when a third voice sounded.

"What in the Dark Forest is going on here?" Mapleshade spat. "You idiots! We're supposed to be training the newbies! Imagine Tigerstar's fury when he realizes that all you two have been doing is snarling at each other from petty arguments!"

Hawkfrost scowled. "You don't boss me around." but sheathed his claws nonetheless.

Amberstorm glared defiantly at Mapleshade for a good ten seconds, until, reluctantly, she sheathed her claws, hung her head and murmured quietly, "Yes, Mapleshade." the older she-cat turned away in satisfaction.

"So who are the newbies?" Hawkfrost called after Mapleshade.

Brokenstar suddenly appeared, making Amberstorm want to flinch and claw his face off. His bloodstained paws were freshly crimson, as they had been every night. "I recruited one," he spoke up. "A dark ginger she-cat. Four white paws. Been working on her since she was a kit."

"That her blood?" Amberstorm's tail flicked over to indicate his paws.

Brokenstar grunted, and Amberstorm took that as a confirmation. "Who else?" she asked.

"Timberpaw of ShadowClan," Mapleshade reported. "Claims that he needs to get stronger because his mother won't acknowledge him." she smirked a bit. "In any other case, I would call the mother stupid and cruel, but we benefit from this one."

"I can see another trying to enter these grounds," Hawkfrost suddenly announced, his eyes misted over. "He knows what this is. He wants to train here."

"Get him," Brokenstar ordered Amberstorm.

Amberstorm raised her hackles, hissing. "Who gives you the right to boss me around?" she snarled defiantly.

"The fact that I'm senior to you in the Dark Forest!" Brokenstar roared back, making Amberstorm wrinkle her nose and her whiskers fly back.

"Fine, fine, geez," Amberstorm muttered, pawing her way to the border between the living cats' world and the Dark Forest. "Don't get your whiskers into a twist."

Her walk was quiet, and she didn't anticipate the next cat at all. Whoever he was, he was just another obstacle that had created itself, another problem that needed to be solved. And the less problems, the better, because she still didn't know what to say to Fallenpaw. Surely he would report her, even if she was his mentor. There were plenty of other cats that could teach him. Even as she thought about him, she felt a sinking feeling in her belly.

A cat's scent reached her, and she raised her nose absentmindedly and sniffed, following the scent that was radiating from the cat that was stubbornly slamming himself against the border, trying to cross it to no avail. _Stupid cat, _Amberstorm thought. _Don't you know to give up now? _

"Hn? So they sent you to fetch me?"

Amberstorm froze at the sound of the mew. Was it really...? Slowly, she lifted her head, and, with amber orbs of astonishment, she viewed the newcomer.

It was Fallenpaw.

* * *

"So we're helping out _WindClan_?" Dovewing asked incredulously. "After all they've done to us? Are you out of your mind?"

"Shut up," Jayfeather sighed. "It's Bramblestar's choice. And besides, we know the cure for blackcough, and they're dying out because of it. It would be inhumane to leave them at a time like this."

"And it was totally appropriate that they attack us out of nowhere," Dovewing responded sarcastically.

"Shut up."

"That's the second time that you've said that."

"I don't care. Shut up."

"But - "

" - shut up."

"...Fine.."

There was a long silence, and then Dovewing quietly asked. "So when are we going over to their territory?"

"After I finish preparing a batch of sorrel bark. Which will be in a bit."

"You sure they're not going to attack us while we're on the moor?"

Jayfeather pushed off his paws, and looked directly at her with his milky blind blue eyes. "We have the cure for blackcough with us, the cure to the one thing that they are dying from. I doubt they would dare insult us."

Dovewing looked to the gray sky. "Good point," she admitted.

Jayfeather finished tying the last bit of leaf wrap securely around the precious pieces of bark. "I'm done," he announced, picking one up with his jaws. "Let's go."

Dovewing automatically drew out her senses and swept over the moor. There was a group of WindClan cats sitting patiently at the border, all of them sick and tired, but the healthiest bunch of the Clan. _Ashstar probably sent them, _she mused. _It doesn't exactly look like an ambush squad. _

Berrynose, Brightheart and Petalpaw joined them as they exited the den.

"About time," Berrynose sniffed.

"Put a toad in it, Berrynose," Jayfeather scowled back. "If you were so desperate to leave, then you should've helped me."

"Umm...I-I can help next time," Petalpaw offered weakly. Looking at the she-cat, Dovewing sighed a bit. The gentle little apprentice was too soft and caring for Clan life. She would easily get trampled over by cats like Whitepaw, and would probably be an easy opponent in battle, because of her reluctance to hurt any other cats, enemies or not.

_And having Brightheart as her mentor won't exactly toughen things up, either, _Dovewing thought, but picked up her bit of bark nevertheless. "Come on, or else I'll be getting gray fur," she cut in the two.

Brightheart laughed a bit as she picked up her own pile. "If you consider yourself old, Dovewing, I shudder to think what I would be."

All small talk ceased as the quintet set out. They were anxious to see how WindClan to react, and they were still wary of the possibility that they might have set an ambush. Just to make sure, Dovewing cast out her senses again and swept throughly over the land. Still only the small bit of cats at the border. There was Harespring, Furzepelt and Boulderfur. When they came in viewing sight, they gave them a small greeting before starting toward their camp.

_They're not exactly talkative, _Dovewing thought.

Already the heavy stench of sickness filled Dovewing's nostrils, and she wrinkled her nose, for once wishing that she didn't have such sensitive senses. She pushed on, ignoring the horrid thing that was screaming in her nose.

"We're here," Furzepelt croaked, before stumbling into the camp in a daze. The rest of the cats followed, albeit a little less eager. The smell had thickened, and Dovewing started coughing, dropping the bundle of bark.

"Kestrelflight?" Jayfeather called. "We're here!"  
The tired young medicine cat stumbled out of his den, his chest heaving slightly. His eyes were blurred. "Hm? Oh~thanks, Jayfeather.

Jayfeather gave him a curt nod. "No problem."

Dovewing looked around. It didn't even seem much like a camp anymore. Sick cats littered the grounds, and bodies of cats were hastily shoved outside, their fur still dirty and matted, their eyes still open and glazed. Obviously, WindClan was too sick to give them a proper vigil and burial. Outside what used to be the nursery, a queen howled over the death of one tiny kit, and Dovewing's heart cracked a bit, trying to imagine if that was her.

"Could...could you help me out here, Jayfeather?" Kestrelflight murmured, his paws already sorting the sorrel. "There's quite a few to be treated to. The sickest are in my den."

"Go home without me," Jayfeather called to the rest of the group. Berrynose nodded and silently led them out of the camp. Only after eighteen fox-lengths did he take a humongous breath of fresh air. "Geez, it reeked in there."

Brightheart shrugged. "Well, at least we know that they actually _were _sick and weren't planning an ambush. It's cruel of ShadowClan to attack WindClan while they're as weak as this."

"WindClan was the one who declared war on ShadowClan," Dovewing pointed out.

Brightheart sighed. "Ashstar should've backed off, regardless of what ShadowClan had done. Even now, I'm starting to doubt that ShadowClan has actually done anything, and it's just a huge misunderstanding."

"Toadstar definitely denied it at the Gathering a few quarter-moons ago," Berrynose mused, before standing up and shrugging. "But the biggest problem is that we don't have any idea whose side we're on now."

"Let's just hope things won't get ugly," Dovewing agreed as they pawed back over to ThunderClan territory.

* * *

Midnight stared intently at the ginger tom beside her. His eyes gleamed a bright shade of blue, four white paws, a white belly, and a tail tipped with white. He looked youthful, possibly only twelve moons, but in reality he was over a million. He was Learning All, the One Who Saw, and Wisdom. He had earned those titles over his long life, that was likely to never cease.

But, he was more known as Cognitor Omnia Quae, Midnight's mate.

It was plausible, actually. She was a large, powerful badger spirit that could speak in many tongues, and he was an immortal cat who watched over his kin.

Midnight knew she was inferior to her mate. She had never argued with him, and she always followed his orders with complete faith that it was the best thing to do. She had watched him do the choices.

But now she was not so sure.

"What you doing?" she rumbled, glaring at him. "You know not that it will have consequences, severely?"

_"Midnight,"_ the tom spoke, his mew deep and rich, in a tongue that Midnight understood a bit more clearly. _"You need not burden yourself by speaking in my tongue. I know of your native tongue. Do not worry." _

Midnight gritted her teeth. She wanted badly to scratch or rip something apart. It had been quite a while that her blood had boiled to this point, and she didn't like it one bit.

_"What in StarClan are you planning? Don't you know that what you have just done will have dire consequences?! This will cause great destruction to the legacy of your very chosen cat, Thunder!"_

Cognitor Omnia Quae looked at her, his eyes full of wisdom and understanding. _"I know what you mean," _he told her. _"But you need to have complete faith in me. I will do what is right." _

_"I have _always _had perfect belief in you that you would do the right thing, Cognitor Omnia Quae. But now, I am not so sure. Again and again I set aside my queasiness at the casualties, and continue to follow you loyally, but this? This is going too far. Why would you even attempt such a thing?" _

_"Midnight~" _Cognitor Omnia Quae began, but Midnight was already stomping away, her paws leaving giant craters due to her massive strength, and Cognitor Omnia Quae's eyes softened a bit at the sadness that was penetrating his heart.

_What...is this feeling? _he wondered to himself. It was so...foreign. It had been a long time since he had experienced this feeling, and it felt like something was crushing his heart, pulling it down into inky darkness, and there was no escape.

None at all.

* * *

**Could y'all do me a favor? On FictionPress, my Penname is InkIntoLife. Plz check out my stories on there! And REVIEW! **

**This time I will be doing a MAJOR challenge: Out of SnowXAmber, MarshXAmber and FallenXAmber, which pairing do you like the most? Write a oneshot about your favorite pairing that contains either MarshXAmber, SnowXAmber or FallenXAmber in the title or summary, or PM me about your oneshot. I will nominate my three favorite oneshots! This will close on July 31st, so I'ma giving you all a lot of time!**

**-Sky**


	10. Trouble Comes

**I'm sosososososososososooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooo sorry I haven't been updating. I have severe writer's block, and NO inspiration, which meant that I was staring at the screen blankly for at least fifteen minutes. So sorry if this chapter's crappy! **

**On the bright side, I got a deviantART where I'm posting pictures of my OCs. So far I've only got Petalpaw, though. I have the link to my dA profile on my FF profile!**

**Disclaimer: Erin Hunter. Owns. Most. Of. These. Cats. MOST. **

* * *

_Rustling and foreign cats' _scents was what filled Amberstorm's senses as she was awoken from her sleep. Beside her, Snowclaw drowsily stirred, sitting up with quite a few pieces of moss clinging comically to his snow-white fur, and sleepily licked her shoulder.

"Well good morning," Snowclaw slurred, swaying from side to side.

Amberstorm chuckled a bit. "You stayed up quite late substituting Foxleap while he was making dirt. Just go back to sleep."

She noticed how Snowclaw nodded absentmindedly before closing his eyes and resting on her shoulder. Suddenly, the weight became more prominent. "Huh? Snowclaw?" A snore. Amberstorm sighed, half with amusement, half with irritation. "Idiotic Snowclaw," she murmured, setting him gently back on his mossy nest. Then she proceeded to gently groom out the scraps of moss on his fur, before she sat back up and sniffed the air once more. The scent was still there.

Beside her, other cats were stirring and suspiciously scenting the air, their eyes narrowed. Amberstorm didn't know why, though. This scent was familiar, comforting, to her. But somehow, she didn't recognize it. She sniffed again, then froze. _Wait a minute..._

She stood up from her warm nest (albeit a little regretfully) and padded outside. Her suspicions were confirmed.

A patrol of _strong _ShadowClan warriors were standing at the entrance of ThunderClan's camp, with Toadstar leading them. Foxleap faced them, his fangs bared, his fur bushed out and his hackles raised. "What are you doing here?" he asked them bluntly. "I know we're allies, but that doesn't give you the right to trample on our territory."

Bramblestar emerged from his den in the Highledge, a scowl present on his face. "Toadstar, what're you doing? Even _if _we're allies, you can't simply go on our territory whenever you please."

"Ah, but Bramblestar, that's the thing. _Are _we allies?" Toadstar questioned, a hint of annoyance under the facade of calm.

"What're you talking about?" Bramblestar blinked, staring at him with confusion in his eyes.

"Surely we're not anymore, because you decided to unjustly side with WindClan, am I right?"

"About the blackcough?" Bramblestar narrowed his eyes. "What's there to say? They were dying out. It was like refusing to help a severely sick and helpless kit."

"WindClan is a _Clan_, not a kit," Toadstar snarled. "Though they act like one. After they had unfairly accused us of something we didn't do, going as far as to launch a _siege _on our camp, you side with them?" he snorted. "Typical ThunderClan."

Amberstorm's eyes wandered over to her Clan. Some of them were hissing, their hackles raised and their fur bushed out, but some were icily calm, like she was. She saw reason behind Toadstar's hisses.

As Bramblestar opened his mouth to retort something, she noticed Heavypelt standing uncomfortably at the edge, and her whiskers twitched in amusement. While Toadstar was on a rant, he failed to notice that nearly all of his warriors were looking awkward or fidgeting restlessly.

"I will give you two moons to figure out which Clan's side you're on. After two moons, if you have still not decided, then ShadowClan will declare war on both WindClan _and _ThunderClan."

The group of ShadowClan left.

Amberstorm scowled as Bramblestar waved over Lionblaze with his tail, and they started murmuring between them.

Finally, they both nodded determinedly and Bramblestar jumped onto the Highledge.

"Cats of ThunderClan," he yelled. "Lionblaze and I have reached a conclusion that ShadowClan cannot be trusted. We shall side ourselves with WindClan."

Almost immediately yowls of protest and agreement filled the clearing. Shouts of "WindClan!" and "ShadowClan!" were heard, and Thornclaw, Amberstorm's father, stepped up.

Amberstorm couldn't help but glare at him. _You gave me half a life! _she thought accusingly.

"But ShadowClan _has _got a point," Thornclaw calmly pointed out. "If they are accused of something they didn't do, and take an ally, only to have the ally help their enemy Clan, it's only fair that we return being their ally, right?"

Blossomfall snarled from the nursery, "But how will we know whether those mange-pelts are planning on betraying us or not?!"

Slowly, the cats split apart into two groups. One group screamed to join ShadowClan, which was the one Amberstorm was in. The other wanted to ally themselves with WindClan. Amberstorm noticed the two groups shooting each other looks of disgust.

"Enough!" Bramblestar snarled. "We will decide this later. Right now I want a hunting patrol."

The cats reluctantly split apart, but cats who were on the ShadowClan side shot the WindClan side looks of disgust and irritation, and vice versa.

"Fallenpaw!" Amberstorm yelled across the clearing. "Hunting!"

Fallenpaw reluctantly padded over, but stayed a good three fox-lengths from her at all times. At one point, Amberstorm could've sworn that Fallenpaw muttered, "Mangy ShadowClan-lover."

* * *

_Special Edition Side-Story: Petalpaw's Struggle_

Petalkit thought it was cold. But then a warm tongue licked her, again and again, and she thought it was better. It was so weird, everything was all black. But what bothered Petalkit the most was that she was _hungry_.

_"Mewwww!" _she exclaimed, hoping that someone would give her something. _"Meww, meww mewwwwwww!" _

Distantly, she heard a cat meow, "Wow, Windkit's pretty." She felt her heart drop a bit. Was _she _pretty? She couldn't even open her eyes yet! Suddenly, her stomach growled and she mewed again. _"Mewwww!" _

She felt something gently nudge her to a good scent. She sniffed, then latched onto something. Her stomach growled yet again, and she felt as if there was something good in the thing that she had latched on. She started suckling, and a warm, creamy substance filled her mouth, making her tummy warm. She purred a bit. She liked that feeling.

Once Petalkit was all nice and full, she curled up next to the warm thing. She felt some kit else stir beside her. So maybe that was Windkit!

"Windkit and Petalkit," a voice murmured from the warm thing that had given her that warm creamy drink. "Welcome to ThunderClan."

_"Mewwww..." _Petalkit tried to form words. "Are...you..our mama?"

A laugh and she felt a tongue lick her head. "Yes, Petalkit. I'm your mama. I'm Icecloud."

Petalkit nodded drowsily before beginning to sleep.

* * *

"Hey, Icecloud, when are their eyes going to open?"

"Hush, Lightningkit. They're _sleeping_. And plus~it's only been a day. It'll probably take another day to make their eyes open."

Petalkit squirmed.

"Aww, but I wanna play with Windkit!" Lightningkit protested.

A laugh.

"Don't worry, you'll be able to in due time," Icecloud said simply.

_"Mewwwww..." _Petalkit meowed, feeling her stomach grumble. She wormed over to Icecloud and latched on to the good-smelling thing again, and began to drink. She felt a rough tongue lick her once she was finished. _"Mew! _Ice...Icecloud! Mama!"

Another chuckle.

"What does everything look like?"

A pause. "Hmm, well that's hard to describe. You'll have to see for yourself."

"But...but how?"

"You open your eyes."

"How do I do that?"

Icecloud laughed softly. "You'll have to find out yourself, little one."

Petalkit nodded, then tried to force her eyes open. She saw yellow, and tried again, getting a tiny bit open everytime.

"Unhhh..._mew_," Petalkit unconsciously murmured.

When she had finally opened her eyes, she looked around her in awe. At first, it was blurry, but as it slowly cleared, she saw smooth gray-white things around her. Icecloud was pure white with green eyes. Lightningkit was a dark brown tabby with green eyes and a white stripe thingy on his back.

"Where's Windkit?" Petalkit pondered aloud.

Icecloud gently nudged a sleeping body beside her. Petalkit turned her head and got the first glimpse of her sister.

Lightningkit was right, Windkit _was _a bit pretty. Far prettier than she was, Petalkit supposed. She was white with gray splotches, or was it gray with white splotches?

She looked over at Lightningkit. He was a lot bigger than she was. She wondered why. Suddenly, new scents filled her nose.

A pretty dark ginger she-kit with white paws and a light gray she-kit padded over. The ginger she-kit's eyes were amber. The light gray she-kit's was green.

"Hi there!" the gray she-kit exclaimed. "Are you Petalkit? One of the two that were kitted yesterday?"

Mutely, Petalkit nodded.

"Hi!" the she-kit repeated. "I'm Featherkit! And this is my sister, Whitekit. That moron's also my brother, Lightningkit."

Petalkit felt slightly overwhelmed with the many names. "Um..hi, Featherkit, Whitekit."

"Hi!" Whitekit exclaimed, her eyes shining brightly. "Do you know how to play mossball?"

Petalkit shook her head.

"Okay, so..."

* * *

Petalkit clumsily jumped and hooked her tiny claw into the mossball, but she quickly let go, giving the other team a point.

"Petalkit!" Featherkit halfheartedly exclaimed, until she realized that Petalkit was staring outside.

"Wh...why's it so dark?" Petalkit asked, her voice trembling.

"Because it's night," Lightningkit explained. "Every day the sun goes up and then it goes down, turning it into night."

"But why can't it stay forever?!" Petalkit asked again.

"Because night is when you kits have to sleep." Icecloud stepped forward, drawing Petalkit back with her tail.

"Okay," Petalkit mumbled, yawning.

She had laid down and closed her eyes for only a moment when she woke up again. It was pitch black and eerily silent, and all the cats in the nursery (as Whitekit had told Petalkit) were fast asleep. _I can't see anything! _Petalkit thought, terrified. _What if...what if something sneaks up on me in the dark? _

She snuggled closer to the crook of Icecloud's belly, her heart pounding loudly with fear.

Suddenly, quiet twitches and cries of pain were heard. Petalkit whipped her head toward the source of the noise, and panic filled her heart when she realized it was Whitekit. Slashes appeared on her thick coat, and something red oozed out of them. Whitekit appeared to be asleep, and something was attacking her. But what? Petalkit strained her eyes, but saw nothing.

_W-w-w-what's going on? _

Suddenly, Whitekit's mouth opened and she let out a bloodcurdling scream, as the biggest slash of all appeared and she went limp.

* * *

**I'm not posting a challenge or a question because you have two challenges: one-shot about Amberstorm's pairings and the cover of POS. So...yeah..**

**-Sky**


	11. Nightmare Begins

**Guise sorry...but I've been having a severe case of writer's block, I have had NO inspiration, my mom kept nagging me and giving me summer homework and I've been helping out at a summer camp (which is 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM..). All in all, an uber busy summer with almost no time to write. I haven't even been to the library in a while O.O **

**Disclaimer: ioajwuihffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff ffffffffffffffffffffffff**

**Featherpaw: Sky just fell asleep on the keyboard due to waking up so early so I'll do it! Sky does not own Warriors! X3**

* * *

_ThunderClan became a total _mess.

Cats on opposing sides refused to patrol with each other, eat, or even sleep beside each other. The apprentices were, too. Tigerheart sighed as he sat back on his haunches. He had no choice but to root for WindClan, to prove that he wasn't still loyal to his former Clan. He grimaced. It was hard, living in a foreign Clan where no one trusted you. He wondered how Tawnypelt had handled it.

Beside him, Lionblaze sat. "Our Clan is basically in a war~with ourselves, that is. Cats are taking sides, and the tension is high in the air."

Tigerheart grunted in agreement. "Eventually, this disagreement will lead to exchanging blows."

"And the ShadowClan followers will possibly attempt to create an uprising against Bramblestar, seeing as he is firm on staying with WindClan," Lionblaze scowled. "He's already on his fourth life~did you know that? It wouldn't take much for the ShadowClan side to overthrow him. Especially if _they_~" here he flicked his tail toward Amberstorm, Thornclaw and Birchfall. "~are on ShadowClan's side."

"This is such a pain," Tigerheart grumbled. "Can't we all be mature and just talk things out?"

"It would only end in exchanging harsh words," Lionblaze pointed out.

Tigerheart opened his mouth to agree, when all of a sudden, his head pounded heavily and images flashed through his mind, making him collapse.

_A green-eyed gray she-cat. Dovewing, the foreign-sounding name was. She stood beside a pale gray tom with jet-black stripes. They looked so happy together, so joyful. And Tigerheart knew that he should've been happy for Dovewing, seeing her pleasure, but he couldn't help but feel hatred, jealousy and anger toward the tom..._

_A green-eyed gray she-cat, staring at him with concern flashing in her leafy eyes. He was collapsed on a piece of broken wood. "Are you okay?" she asked him nervously. "I'm sorry I pushed you..." Tigerheart felt a bit of aching in his body, but he was actually quite pleased, because it showed just how much this she-cat cared for him..._

_A green-eyed gray she-cat, staring at him with sad, discouraged, heartbroken eyes. "I...I don't think we should meet anymore. It's forbidden." Tigerheart felt surprise, sadness, disbelief, and finally, anger. Frustration at this she-cat, the one that he had put everything into, leaving him just like that, as if he was nothing more than a piece of prey that she had thrown away. Bitterness consumed him..._

"Argh!"

Tigerheart sat back up, shaking the images from his mind as the throbbing in his head faded. Lionblaze stared at him, concern in his eyes. "You okay?"

A single word flashed through his mind. _Dovewing._

Bleakly, Tigerheart nodded. "Yeah...just a really fast migraine."

"You sure?" Lionblaze sounded skeptical this time.

Tigerheart sighed. "Yes..." he murmured, pushing himself onto his paws. The seemingly-endless rain had stopped, letting prey peek out of their dens and scamper around. Tigerheart used that as an excuse. "I'll go hunt."

A single word flashed through his mind. _Dovewing._

Without another word, Tigerheart padded through the entrance of the camp and into the droplet-tipped ferns and undergrowth. Navigating through the soaked forest was quite a feat to accomplish, seeing as the slightest brush of undergrowth would result in dripping water, scaring away prey.

Tigerheart had somehow managed to get to a slightly bare spot, hiding behind a large oak tree while a shrew nibbled on something on the ground. There was no wind, so Tigerheart felt confident that he could bring something back. He got ready to pounce.

A single word flashed through his mind. _Dovewing._

He was about to push off and deal a single, killing bite to the shrew when a stick nearby snapped loudly, and the shrew ran away, terrified. Irritation seeped through Tigerheart as he recognized a certain annoying golden-brown pelt.

Amberstorm pulled her lips back, sarcastically apologetic. "Whoops, sorry there. Didn't see you."

"You little~" Tigerheart glared at her. "You did that on purpose, didn't you? Because I'm on WindClan's side?"

Amberstorm gave him a mock shocked look. "Me? Of _course _not!" she mewed it slowly and with surprise faker than a rubber mouse from the Twolegs. "Why in _StarClan _would I do that? We're one Clan, _after all_."

Tigerheart snarled in frustration as he stomped far, far away from Amberstorm, and began hunting again.

A single word flashed through his mind. _Dovewing. _

For once, he had remembered his memories. He had remembered what he had saw during his headache. Everything but her appearance.

_Who are you, Dovewing? _

* * *

Fallenpaw wasn't speaking to her.

Amberstorm almost clawed him in frustration after he ignored her orders for the fiftieth time.

"Great StarClan, Fallenpaw!" Amberstorm snarled finally. "Do as I say or else I'll take away your apprenticeship and you'll be reduced to a thirteen-moon-old kit!" she glared at him to enforce the threat.

Scowling and rolling his eyes at her, he placed his paws in correct position and executed the battle move clumsily~running up a tree, seemingly fleeing from an enemy before pushing off, flipping in midair and pinning the pursuer as they land. It was more effective for larger cats, but harder to perform. It had taken Amberstorm three quarter-moons to do it properly as an eight-moon-old apprentice, which meant that it would be a while before Fallenpaw, thirteen moons old, could master it perfectly, and Amberstorm had wanted to get started right away, but Fallenpaw had already wasted a few hours, chasing a butterfly, chasing a bug, chasing another bug, chasing a cockroach, etc., and Amberstorm wanted to claw his ears off.

As Fallenpaw attempted to flip, he overshot and did a complete 360 before falling flat on his back with a loud _thump_. Amberstorm bit the inside of her cheek _hard _to keep herself from bursting out with laughter.

"Again," she ordered, her whiskers still quivering in amusement. Fallenpaw gave her an icy glare before pushing himself back onto his paws and attempting it again.

This time, he had just barely landed on his hind legs, slipped, and fell again on his back. Amberstorm winced. She knew exactly how that felt, and it sure wasn't a good feeling.

"Are you..okay?" Amberstorm asked tentatively, watching as Fallenpaw got back on his paws, glared at her yet again, and then, ignoring her, tried the move again. Not flipping enough, he landed flat on his face, causing his nose to bleed.

Amberstorm stepped forward to help, but dodged instinctively when he snapped his jaws at her. Fallenpaw then proceeded to lick one of his paws and wipe his nose, over and over again, until his brown fur became crimson. Reluctantly, he let Amberstorm clean it up.

Amberstorm stepped forward and started licking his nose with her sandpaper-like tongue, scratching the nose a bit. After a while, the bleeding seemed to recede, until there was barely a small trickle. The sharp, coppery taste of blood still sang in her mouth, and Amberstorm swirled her tongue around it a bit to clear it up as Fallenpaw wiped his nose a bit more before trying the move again.

_Tch, the idiot's ignoring me, apparently because I'm on 'ShadowClan's side' or whatever. This whole thing is becoming ridiculous. _She looked over at Fallenpaw, who was now concentrating on perfecting the move. _But I suppose it is like him. He's too unreliable. _

She thought about it.

_Maybe he's angry at me because I scared away Tigerheart's shrew, _she thought again.

A while later, Fallenpaw was tired, scruffed up, bleeding, and had not yet mastered the move. She sighed at waved her tail at him, signaling to him to stop. Fallenpaw scowled for at least the thousandth time that day as he padded over. The hostility in the air as the duo trudged back to camp was almost suffocating.

When they both entered the camp, Amberstorm ordered Fallenpaw to go to Jayfeather's den, and she entered the warriors' den, before collapsing on the soft, springy moss.

All of a sudden, everything went cold, and Amberstorm helplessly shivered. She opened her eyes, only to watch as her world was engulfed in black.

"Amberstorm," a voice rang out. "I wish to speak with you."

* * *

_Special Edition Side-Story: Petalpaw's Struggle. _

Petalkit eased up from her warm, comfy spot beside Icecloud, and quietly called out, "W-W-Whitekit?" her lower lip trembled in fear as she shakily placed one paw after another. Whitekit had barely twitched after that large gash appeared. _I-i-is it in a dream? L-like the ones I heard Ivypool and Dovewing were talking about earlier today? _Petalkit was suddenly filled with even more terror. _D-d-does that mean that we aren't safe, even by our mother's sides? _

She reached Whitekit, curled up in her nest, beside a sleeping Squirrelflight. The air around her stank of copper blood. Petalkit's heart jumped in alarm as she stirred, but the injured she-kit only let out a small whimper before falling limp again. Petalkit leaned forward and licked clean one of the wounds, tasting the bitter scarlet liquid. Slowly and shakily, Petalkit cleaned out all Whitekit's injuries and sat back, wondering what she would do about the gashes.

She then noticed how Whitekit's breathing had eased out, as if she was no longer trapped in a terrifying dream, and Petalkit backed away. _D-d-d-did those scary cats realize that I was helping Whitekit, and now they're after me? _Panic filled her at that thought. _Oh no! Oh no! I can't fall asleep now! _

But then, something from Whitekit caught her attention. The large openings on the young she-kit were closing at an unnatural rate. _But how? _Petalkit wondered, wishing that she was asleep and she had never noticed any of this. Eventually, all of Whitekit's injuries had closed up. Not even a scar remained on the dark ginger fur. Petalkit's whiskers quivered in fear. _I-is Whitekit...special or something? Or... _

Petalkit felt like sobbing. She decided to return to her sleep, and scream really, really loudly if any scary cat came near her and hope that a strong cat will fight them away. Seeing Whitekit, she was prepared to scream at anytime.

* * *

The cold sunlight was pooling in the nursery when Petalkit woke up. Surprisingly, not even Icecloud was there. _Where is everyone? Oh no, did the scary cats come to get them and did they kill them all? _Petalkit began to hyperventilate. _What will I tell Bramblestar? The truth? Would he think that _I _killed them all? _

Icecloud popped her head in the nursery, her green eyes shining brightly. "You're awake!" she called. "Windkit opened her eyes! They're playing a game of mossball right now."

Relieved, Petalkit ran out of the nursery, only to fall whisker-deep in cold, white powdery stuff. She squeaked in surprise. _Is this going to drown me? _

A laugh rang from Icecloud and Petalkit felt her scruff get picked up and she hung limply from her mother's jaws. "Careful, there," she warned. "Some of that snow is quite deep for you kits. Your denmates are playing in a shallow part of the area, see?" Icecloud padded over to the kits' game and dropped Petalkit. Petalkit landed with a loud squeak, slipped off her paws, and landed with a loud _smack! _on her back. Which was quite painful and even more embarrassing, as nearly all the cats in the clearing purred with amusement. Petalkit felt downcast. Was that all that she was? The she-kit that everyone laughed at?

Shaking the white powder off her pelt, Petalkit tentatively walked over to the game in progress. Lightningkit was doing a little victory dance as Windkit, still looking slightly disoriented, missed the mossball by a few centimetres. The pretty gray-and-white she-kit looked slightly depressed, and Featherkit kindly licked her ear.

"Don't worry," she assured Windkit, "It's your first time."

"C-can I play?" Petalkit asked them shyly.

Windkit looked over in confusion, her eyes blurring before focusing as she viewed her sister. "Are you my sister?"

Eagerly, Petalkit nodded, her eyes shining.

Windkit waved with her tail. "Hi!"

"Sorry, Petalkit," Lightningkit called from the other team's side. "There's five of us, so if you join the teams will be uneven. You can be the referee, if you want."

Hesitantly, Petalkit nodded, feeling a little bit left out. The moment her sister had opened her eyes was the moment she was excluded out of their little group.

"D-do we restart?" Petalkit questioned quietly. "I don't know the scores."

"We have three points," Lightningkit boasted, pointing with his tail toward Whitekit to indicate the teams. "They have one."

Windkit's ears drooped a bit, depressed.

"Don't worry," Featherkit assured her. "It's your first time, after all." She hooked one of her claws in the mossball, and then tossed it over the line that split the sides apart, and Lightningkit lunged and batted the mossball back with a sheathed paw. Featherkit swiped at it sideways, and the mossball flew diagonally, falling past the line horizontally.

"We get a point!" Featherkit declared, her eyes gleaming. She patted Windkit's shoulder with her tail. "I told you it was okay!"

"You didn't get a point!" Whitekit protested at her side. "That passed the line. It was out-of-bounds."

"No, it wasn't!" Featherkit retorted. "We cleared away the snow. It's still on the ground. If it was out-of-bounds, it would've been in the snow!"

_"Shut up!" _Whitekit roared. Every kit stepped back, surprised at Whitekit's sudden burst of anger. It was then that Petalkit noticed the subtle bags under her eyes, and she remembered the night previous, where Whitekit had been tortured in her sleep by an unseen attacker. A shiver went up her spine.

"Petalkit? Are you okay?" Icecloud had noticed her tremble. "Are you cold? I'll take you back into the nursery." Icecloud picked Petalkit up by the scruff and carried the shy kit back into the nursery, and Petalkit lay in the moss, listening halfheartedly at Squirrelflight scolding her ginger kit.

Petalkit remembered the kind, energetic and slightly mischievous kit that had greeted her yesterday, the day she opened her eyes. How had she changed so much? Or was it because of the torturer?

Petalkit closed her eyes.

_What am I going to do?_

* * *

**Featherpaw: I'll continue because Sky is still sleeping. Anyway, what will happen between Tigerheart and Dovewing? What's Petalkit going to do? Who seeked Amberstorm out and why? Learn more...later. (I can't do this as dramatic as Sky does ): ) Anywayz, Sky has been doing sketches of her OCs in here on dA! But right now her phone refuses to cooperate so it'll be a while before she gets that drawing of Amberstorm on! **

**Continue with the story submissions! And is ANYONE going to do the cover for POS? **

**Baii.**

**~Featherpaw **

**(for once. Tee hee. But I suppose I'll add Sky in too just so she won't freak out at me.)**

**-Sky**


	12. Day One

**I know what y'all are thinking. "FINALLY, THE LAZY SKY UPDATED!" I'm so so so so soooooo sorry, but let's just skip the excuses for the end of the chapter. **

**Disclaimer: Sky is too lazy to own Warriors. *sobs***

* * *

_Amberstorm stared at the _cat in front of her, hostility spiking her fur once before relaxing as her brain registered the familiar face. Rich, ginger fur greeted her, with white paws, tail-tip, muzzle and belly. Bright, crystal clear blue eyes locked onto her. It looked exactly like a young tom, at the highest of his prime. But Amberstorm wasn't fooled. This so-called 'young tom', was Cognitor Omnia Quae, a 'god' of cats, of sorts. He was wise, Amberstorm knew that much. However long he had lived, she did not know. But she supposed, it was a lot.

"And what do you want now?" Amberstorm pressed straight to the point, ignoring how rude she sounded.

Cognitor Omnia Quae curled his lip in mild amusement, as if this rude she-cat was giving him entertainment for a moment. He paused, and Amberstorm waited expectantly. After a few moments had passed, Amberstorm, irritated, bared her teeth and snarled, _"Tell me already!" _

Cognitor Omnia Quae twitched for a moment, as if he had forgotten that Amberstorm was there. He nodded curtly, acknowledging her existence, then padding away.

Amberstorm sighed, not knowing whether to feel exasperated, or angry. She had enough problems to deal with at the moment, such as Tigerstar and the accompanying rising Dark Forest, ThunderClan being in a civil war despite them already at war with ShadowClan, and possibly WindClan, and...Fallenpaw.

Suddenly, she froze, and turned to the still-walking figure that was one of the first cats ever to have existed. "Wait! You...you can control events, can't you? You _led _ThunderClan onto this course of actions!" her fur rose up, and she glared at him hostilely.

What angered her further was that Cognitor Omnia Quae~the old fart~wasn't replying to her at all, when he suddenly turned around and pierced her with crystal-clear blue eyes, appearing to be the eyes of a cat in his prime. "Come with me," he mewed simply, his voice rich and deep. Amberstorm narrowed her eyes, trying not to scream at him lest he get angry at her and run her over with a monster. Reluctantly, she padded after him, her pads feeling the coolness of the dark, smooth ground.

"Where are we?" she questioned him, her amber eyes glowing in the darkness as she strained them to see properly.

Cognitor Omnia Quae paused for a moment. "The Council Cave," he said. "We should not be here. I was foolish to summon you here, a mere Guardian."

Amberstorm blinked. "I'll just pretend I understood everything you said and wait quietly~NO! I REFUSE TO PRETEND THAT I UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING AND WAIT QUIETLY! _TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!_"

Cognitor Omnia Quae's whiskers twitched with amusement. "Relax. Everything will be revealed in due time." He concentrated and flicked his tail, Amberstorm somehow getting the feeling that that small flick had more that met the eye. Suddenly, they were standing on the smooth, grassy and lifeless plains of StarClan, courtesy of the Orb. Barely any cats were there now, and Amberstorm flinched with slight guilt as she realized Hollyleaf wasn't there.

Until Amberstorm realized that this wasn't StarClan. She looked at the tip of her tail. The dark, smooth floor was expanding on the fields, and Amberstorm frowned. "What..?"

"We must hurry," Cognitor Omnia Quae meowed urgently. "We have not much time."

"Answer my questions~"

Cognitor Omnia Quae silenced Amberstorm, the latter albeit obeying reluctantly, with a flick of his tail. "I have explained to you, the answers will come when they are supposed to come. No sooner, no later." He frowned at the darkening sky. "They're coming," he mewed grimly. He turned to her. "I must give you a message. All of ThunderClan's troubles, I have Looked and seen that this path was the best."  
"Was it now?" Amberstorm asked sarcastically.

Cognitor Omnia Quae ignored her sarcasm. "It was. Listen to me as I begin to speak. The one you need, their life is bleak. Gentle as a Feather, raging like a Lion." he stared directly at her. "That is the one you must seek."

"Why do you always speak in riddles?!" Amberstorm twitched her whiskers, frustrated so much to the point where she couldn't even scream. Which was saying something. Amberstorm liked screaming. Unless it was directed at herself.

"Speaking in riddles is the only safe way to inform the living. Directly telling them about their future will make them attempt to...meddle with how affairs are supposed to go." the sky rumbled, and he grimaced. "You must go now, lest you experience horrors that would take away your sanity."

Amberstorm was about to protest, when she felt a fading feeling, and disappeared from the clearing.

* * *

_Day: 1 _

_Status: Glaring with hostility in the air. _

Dovewing sighed as she saw a WindClan supporter and a ShadowClan supporter, more specifically, Oakpaw and Aspenpaw, bicker about wanting a certain piece of prey, to the point where Aspenpaw slammed Oakpaw against the smooth stone walls of the camp, making Dovewing wince slightly. She padded over to them.

"Hey," she meowed, doing her best to make herself sound stern and hold herself as a superior-ranking warrior. "No fighting. Whoever got it first, gets to keep it."

Aspenpaw glared at her. "Like I'm going to follow a damned _WindClan_ supporter," he scoffed. "Besides, even though my _mundui _of a brother got it first," at this point Oakpaw scowled at his littermate. "I told all the apprentices _all morning _that I wanted that juicy thrush, and not to touch it."

"Yeah, right! You're just making that up because you noticed me eyeing it after training, _mundui_!"

"Who are you calling a _mundui_, _fyuinder_?"

Aspenpaw flinched, as well as a lot of other brown tabbies in the clearing. "Oh, you did _not _just go there," he mewed, his voice deathly quiet.

Oakpaw looked slightly reluctant, but nevertheless repeated, "You heard me, _fyuinder_."

Aspenpaw let out a yowl and bowled his brother over, both of them hissing and spitting violently at each other as they unsheathed their claws and bit each other.

Panic flooded through Dovewing and she tried, fruitlessly, to stop them. The two toms were both spitting fire at each other and it would take some serious ruthlessness to get them to stop.

Another brown tabby tom stepped in front of them, except he wasn't related to them. Tigerheart bared his teeth and snarled loudly at both of them, making them stop in their tracks momentarily. Then, with his claws nearly unsheathed, he batted them away from each other, irritation and anger clearly in his gaze.

"Not only do you cause a commotion over a stupid thrush," Tigerheart's voice was deadly. "You wake _half the Clan members_." he glared at them. "Try staying up all night for new extra midnight border patrols and then waking up to two screaming apprentices, and then try not to kill yourselves!"

"Dovewing!" Bumblestripe padded over to her. "Are you alright? Did any of them scratch you or bite you by mistake?"

Dovewing purred at her mate, her eyes showing that she was grateful for his concern. "Thanks, Bumblestripe, but I'm okay. Nothing big."

"That's good," Bumblestripe commented, relief evident in his eyes. An awkward clearing of the throat sounded behind the two mates, and Dovewing looked behind her, remembering that Tigerheart was still there. Since they had returned from their rather suicidal journey, she had filled up the hole in her heart by being near Bumblestripe, and it had worked. She had nearly forgotten that the tom was exiled from ShadowClan and was staying at ThunderClan.

"Ah...er..yes?" Dovewing asked, feeling incredibly awkward, and even more so as Bumblestripe glared at Tigerheart, his fur spiking up, already overprotective of Dovewing.

"You're..." Tigerheart's face scrunched up, as if he was trying to remember something. "You...you're Dovewing, right?"

Dovewing's breath caught in her throat, her green eyes widening discreetly, her jaws agape (and if she'd seen herself at the moment, she probably hoped that a fly wouldn't enter). She blinked incredulously at him for a few moments, unsure of how to respond, before slowly nodding, feeling Bumblestripe's tail curl over her, glaring at Tigerheart.

Tigerheart ignored the tom. "Uh..." he looked away, looking uncomfortable. "I...Sorry for completely forgetting you after being hit by that monster," he finally settled on.

Dovewing's mouth quirked up in amusement, and she purred. "It's okay, I suppose you didn't _want _to get hit by that monster anyway."

"I did not," Tigerheart stated flatly, a deadpan look on his face. "It was not fun."

Bumblestripe opened his mouth and tried to get Dovewing to talk to him individually, when a yowl sounded in the air and Featherpaw, torn up, bruised and bloody, stumbled into the camp.

"Everyone!" she gasped, looking ready to pass out. "ShadowClan has...finally...decided..to...attack..." her eyes drooped and Squirrelflight lunged forward to catch her kit, noticing anxiously how much blood the young apprentice had lost.

"Seedflower!" Squirrelflight called, the former authority of being a deputy seeping into her tone. "Go tend to Featherpaw. Jayfeather." she turned to the blind medicine cat, padding out with a scowl present on his face, or maybe that was just his normal face. Dovewing had already known how grumpy this tom could be. "Go onto the battlefield and tend to any injured there. ThunderClan!" she yowled loudly. "Let's go!"

Dovewing cast out her senses, and noticed a fight between a border patrol and an ambush group from ShadowClan. The ThunderClan cats were losing badly, and Dovewing noted anxiously that they had to get there quickly.

Squirrelflight turned, noticing that half of ThunderClan wasn't following her. "What's wrong?"

Amberstorm stepped forward and looked at her with a defiant look in her eye, as if challenging her. "We aren't going to help a bunch of WindClan supporters. Go deal with this yourself. As half a Clan. With half the strength."

* * *

_Special Edition Side Story: Petalpaw's Struggle_

"Petalkit!"

Petalkit felt a paw hit her head and she cracked an eye open, her face brightening to see the familiar face of her (rather pretty, she had to add) littermate. "You're up!" Windkit declared happily, turning from her and pawing over to the three older kits, Lightningkit, Whitekit and Featherkit. Lightningkit and Featherkit had bright looks on their faces, but Whitekit had a scowl, oddly, or not-so-oddly, as the previous night Petalkit had fallen asleep to Whitekit's whimpers of pain.

Petalkit cringed a bit when she remembered how reluctant she was to help. _I'm a horrible cat! _

"Petalkit?" Featherkit asked, blinking at her. "Is something wrong?"

Petalkit quickly shook her head. "Nope!" she forced her voice to be bright and cheery. "Nothing!"

"Okay!" Lightningkit bounced on his feet. "Can we play another round of mossball today?"

Windkit mewed, "I wanna check out the apprentices' den!"

Featherkit looked up. "How about we..." she lowered her tone dangerously. "Go in the forest?"

The kits stared at her incredulously. "But they'll see us go out the camp!" Windkit exclaimed softly.

"Umm..." Petalkit murmured, and all heads turned to her. She suddenly felt uncomfortable as the center of attention. "We could go through the dirtplace tunnel and say we have to make dirt."

Featherkit bounced. "Great idea! Let's go!" Even Whitekit was a little enthusiastic to go outside and explore the forest. The five kits padded out, in a single file, when Squirrelflight stopped them.

"Where are you kits going?" she asked.

"To make dirt," Lightningkit mewed with big, innocent eyes.

"All five of you?" Squirrelflight asked with disbelief clear in her tone. For a moment, Petalkit got nervous that she saw through their plot right away and that she was going to send them into the nursery and make them stay there. But, to her tremendous relief, she stepped aside and let them pass. The five kits rapidly scurried toward the dirtplace tunnel before any other less gullible warriors intercepted them.

"Eww! This stinks!"

"This way! I see a hole!"

They squeezed through the minuscule hole, one that young kits could just barely go through. One after another, they pushed themselves until all five of them were outside, looking around at the forest with wide eyes.

"Wow," Windkit breathed, looking around with eyes the size of Daisy's belly. "It's huge."

"Look! A mouse!" Lightningkit exclaimed, pointing his tail to a small furry rodent picking at tree roots to find food for the cold leafbare. Whitekit narrowed her eyes before dropping into a crouch. It was a clumsy hunting crouch imitation, but she stalked forwards anyway. However, the snow she stepped in crunched loudly, and the mouse ran away, much to their disappointment.

The group of kits continued on, looking at each and everything intently. Suddenly, Petalkit disappeared with a yelp.

"Huh? Petalkit?!" Windkit padded over to where the tip of Petalkit's ears were sticking, before she, too, fell into the deep snow. "Ack!"

"You guys!" Featherkit tried to retrieve them, but only succeeded in getting herself stuck, too.

"Mousebrains!" Whitekit yelled, rolling her eyes. Lightningkit tried to retrieve them, gently putting down his weight on the snow, paw by paw. He was so concentrated on getting the three that were buried in snow, that he didn't notice the foul stench.

Whitekit was begrudgingly staring at her sibling, waiting impatiently for him to retrieve them. Then, she noticed it. The snapping twigs, the pawsteps sounding in the snow. Her eyes widened in fear that she only had in..._those _dreams. "L-Lightningkit," she called softly, fear penetrating each syllable that she mewed.

"What is it, Whitekit?" Lightningkit asked absentmindedly, still concentrating on the kits in the snow and not noticing the stutter in her voice or how Whitekit was trembling violently.

"L-look up."

"Just _tell _me, Whitekit," Lightningkit told Whitekit, digging in and grasping Windkit's scruff with his teeth, before frowning when he sank deeper in the snow.

"It's a badger."

Lightningkit widened his eyes and snapped his neck in the direction of Whitekit, throwing Windkit out at the same time. A _giant _badger towered over Whitekit, who looked as if she was ready to faint. The badger's eyes were bloodshot and he did not look happy.

Featherkit shot out of the snow, struggling to pull herself up. "But...but Squirrelflight told us that badgers slept during leafbare!" she protested in a weak voice.

"We probably woke it up with all the noise we were making." Whitekit's statement was firm, but she was trembling.

"He's hungry, I'm guessing, because it's almost newleaf."

"And he's angry, I'm guessing, because we woke him."

The badger lunged at the kit closest to him, Whitekit. Rapidly, Lightningkit abandoned Petalkit under the snow and tackled his sister, shoving her out of harm's way. Instead, he got hit by the paw, and hit a tree with such force that the branches shivered and snow fell off.

"Lightningkit!" Featherkit screamed, turning around to look at the motionless lump of tabby brown fur.

Growling, Whitekit lunged at the badger and latched her thorn-sharp teeth into the badger's leg, angry for what he did to her brother. Petalkit watched under her cowardly cover of snow with wide eyes. The badger roared, more of fury than pain, and shook Whitekit off, sending the dark ginger she-kit flying many fox-lengths before crashing into a bramble bush. She slumped, unconscious, the brambles scratching her and catching her fur.

The badger padded over to Whitekit, a paw raised to deliver the killing blow. Featherkit, Windkit and Petalkit watched, with eyes wide, paralysed with fear.

The badger swung.

* * *

**I got a job. **

**Well, it was a part-time job, and it ended, but I had a job nonetheless. **

**As a helper for a camp. Even though I'm only *******. **

**Whatever! Anyway, I have announcements on my page now, so if you'll kindly check that out ~ **

**I finally finished that drawing of Amberstorm, but my phone refuses to co-operate _still_, so wait a bit more please :3**

**-Sky**


End file.
